


A Cog Slips

by Verl



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: (He'll never get one), Gen, I think it's been up long enough to mention Rantaro's back, It's rated M because the game is, Keebo Deserves A Break, Knowing too much as usual..., What am I doing, nothing can possibly go wrong if we use the necronomicon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:48:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 76,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22642867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verl/pseuds/Verl
Summary: When your plot has so many moving parts, the smallest oversight can cause a cascade of changes throughout.A nudge in the right direction, a discovery found too soon? You could break the whole machine....that is to say they probably should have expected a wrench being thrown in the works.(Parts of V3 but we're following a baffled robot as we go careening off the plot track. )
Comments: 112
Kudos: 123





	1. Chapter 1

> run installai2.013  
ERROR  
> runinstallai2.014  
ERROR  
> runinstallai2.015  
ERROR  
tampering suspected  
> runinstallai2.016  
run is disabled  
> disable tamperproof  
code

“What’s the code for this stupid hunk of junk again?”

“You set off the lockdown again?”

“It’s not my fault the geezer made it jumpier than a cat on a tin roof! This is why they should have bought the damn thing, we’d have a manual, or a real override code.”

“Inventor wouldn’t sell it. Went on some tirade about how he doesn’t sell ‘people’, if you can believe it,”

“What a nutjob. Seriously though, I need the code since apparently every single AI I’ve tried is invalid for the thing.”

“How many is that now?”

“Try 216. With a hundred of those using the original AI as a base even. This thing is picky as fuck. I’m almost at changing one line at a time level at this point.”

“Crap. We need it functional soon.Code is lllfhsmnngaieeai.”

>code lllfhsmnngaieeai  
done

“If they’d thought of this earlier we could have made our own instead of fixing up this thing.”

“Higher ups wanted the absolute best so the machine didn’t scare off all the humans. Wouldn’t be much of a show if you’re behind the eyes of a creepy thing that’s actively avoided for being disturbing.”

“If I get this thing working and it dies first I’m suing for emotional damages.”

>runinstallai2.521  
ERROR  
>runinstallai2.522  
installing  
done  
>load memdata  
data does not match coredata  
>erase corememdata  
ERROR  
>erase corememmetadata  
WARNING: loss of medadata will hamper KEEBOS memory algorithm  
>continue  
done  
>load corememdata  
loaded  
>move distantpast  
WARNING: items in distantpast are avoided by memory algorithm.  
>continue  
done  
>load memdata  
Loaded  
>run surveypgm  
Running  
>run aioveride  
Running  
>wake  
waking KEEBO

The robot blinked several times as it pulled into a sitting position, a lifeless thing suddenly far more alive than it had any right to be. It’s legs swayed back and forth as it glanced around the room, fingers tapping a quick beat on the table. Either it didn’t notice the wires and cables stuck into it’s back, or it didn’t care about still being connected to the other machines. The robot only had eyes for the room, not itself. It almost seemed anxious, if a machine could have feelings. A small frown appeared on its face as it decided to focus on the only human in the room, eyebrows still drawn down as if it was puzzled.

“Hello?” it spoke, managing to make a greeting sound like a question. “Should I know you?”

“Oh no, I’m someone new to just make sure everything’s in order. You can answer some questions for me, right?” they answered, privately praying they didn’t need to knock the stupid robot out yet again for this.

“Oh, I can do that. Probably. If you ask things I can reasonably know the answer to,” it started confidently, but seemed to lose that confidence every time it paused.

“They’re very simple. Can you tell me your name?”

The machine brightened, literally as it’s eyes seemed to glow at the question. “Yes. I am-” it paused mid sentence, brow furrowing for a second. “I am K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot.” it seemed to stumble on the name. “Though you can call me Keebo, it is easier. Could I ask your name as well?”

Well, at least it was using the new name now. Even if it still insisted on using the old one as a sort of nickname. It’d have to be good enough. “Thank you K1-B0. Can you tell me about who made you? Where do you go to high school?”

The robot frowned at the name, or perhaps the fact they hadn’t answered it’s question, but otherwise didn’t protest before launching into a fond babbling about their creator, who was like a ‘father’ to it and the school it attended.

While it answered, they tapped a few keys on the laptop and waited.

The robot seemed to struggle to keep speaking before going silent, eyes blank and glowing bright blue instead of the regular ‘human like’ design. The visual change that the AI was being forcibly shoved out of the driver’s seat wasn’t ideal, but it worked. It wouldn’t be needed much, the thing was eager to please and generally looked for guidance. That and it was rather stupid for being an incredibly advanced walking computer. They’d need to implement a vote on if they should take full control of the robot instead of letting the audience do so at will, or the other ‘contestants’ would catch on far too quickly that something was strange about the so called student. If the boss didn’t like it, they could spend weeks trying to bypass some overly complicated robot with more failsafes than you could wave a stick at. It had its new name. It could be forcibly controlled at a distance, and was using the correct backstory. Even if said story had to be heavily modified so the stupid thing didn’t immedately shut itself off. Their job was done, and they needed a raise. Probably a drink, they could complain about their work with Tsumugi, with how many rewrites she had to pull thanks to the trashcan of a robot she’d probably be happy to join in on the shared venting of frustration.

>maintenanceshutdown  
shutting down

\---------------------------------------------------

He wasn’t sure what he was doing wrong, and playing back conversations he considered had gone ‘poorly’ wasn’t shedding any light on it either. He gave a small sigh, crouched in the middle of his barren room. He probably wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep tonight, but that wasn’t a pass to be noisy. They’d drift off eventually and he’d just...wait and think about the mess they were all in. How could he make things even slightly better?

“Who would build a robot without a rocket punch? Why do you even exist?”

Had he gotten on Kokichi’s bad side by trying to keep some space? Would it have gone better if he hadn’t fled from the shorter boy and tried to get him to stop being so invasive? No, Kokichi mocked and irritated everyone. He’d been in the right to try and tell him off a little. Not that it had done anything, beyond possibly making it worse. Keebo couldn’t quite decide if he prefered someone being nosey or someone repeatedly stating he wasn’t a person at all.  
He knew he’d been clear in showing he didn’t like that sort of comment, verbally and physically. Though none of the others ever seemed to come to his defense, maybe he was wrong? Did he not seem distressed to humans? Or had they all considered him to be ‘just’ a robot, and didn’t see a problem with it? They couldn’t all be robophobic, right?

“If someone is going to kill, they should just go for the robot.”

Himiko had said that to his face. No one had actually attempted to kill him, even with the ‘motive’ of not being punished for the first kill. Surely that meant they still considered him a person on some level. He hadn’t exactly hid that he was like a regular person. Himiko was being logical, not hateful. She just needed more time to learn to not be so robophobic, thinking it was better to kill him than a proper human. Being called ‘the robot’ when he had a name was a bit hurtful, but he could be understanding. The conversation was worrying, they were all fearing for their lives thanks to that menace of a bear. They didn’t have time to demand an apology. So of course no one else said anything and let the conversation continue on. They didn’t all think he was lesser than them. Maybe.

They had used him as the ‘closest available object’ after all. He’d protested then as well, but had been thrown at the tank anyway. It had been a horrible situation, with Ryoma’s body lost in moments, another friend was suddenly dead. He should excuse it. His AI was advanced, but he still struggled with a lot of things that came easily, naturally to humans. They probably had a good reason to rush even when he’d said not to.  
It was obvious to him Ryoma was beyond saving at that point, and breaking the tank before checking nearby for clues could be a bad idea, but that might just be because he was a robot. He’d been upset to see it, the others just expressed it more with a need to rush without thinking, right? Even if it had been Kokichi’s idea in the first place. Gonta and Tenko were certainly just trying to help.  
That was it. They didn’t consider he might not want to be drenched in bloody water that had been someone he cared about, because they were so distressed about Ryoma’s death. It was fine, he could endure it for them. That’s why he’d gathered the remains up afterwards, to help the only way he knew how.  
He still felt filthy after scrubbing every last inch of armour he could reach. Had he gotten all of it? Had some run between joints he couldn’t reach past with his hands? He didn’t think he smelled. Yet every time a joint moved he had a foolish idea that dried blood would cause it to stick. They didn’t, he’d stood in a shower for two hours, that would reasonably flush any trace out.  
He was being irrational. There was no reason to be dwelling on it. He’d put his best foot forward when he saw them all again in the morning, and things would go better. Hopefully.  
He might actually take up Miu’s offer of maintenance though. Not because he still felt unclean. He just wanted to put more effort in bonding with his classmates in the future.  
He’d been followed by Kokichi too much, thinking up lies to himself like this.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Keebo, there you are plain as day! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

He couldn’t help flinching from Tsumugi’s sheer enthusiasm, but managed to pass it off as just starting to turn around and face the Ultimate Cosplayer. “You were? If I had known I would have stayed in one place. Why didn’t you say so at the meeting?”

“It just plain slipped my mind, but it’s fine. I managed to track you down anyway,” she smiled before leaning closer “I noticed something that we members of the student council should probably deal with.”

Did all humans like to take as long as possible to get to the point? Clearly she wanted him to do something, but hadn’t bothered to tell him what that was. Of course he wanted to help, to be useful to his friends.  
“You did? We should probably deal with it then, if it involves everyone’s safety,” he said, already looking to the door Tsumugi had assumedly come from.

“Right, we should, but not now.”

“Why? Is it meant to be a secret?” he frowned. Tsumugi had been speaking a little quieter after she leaned forward. He should have noted that sooner before proceeding in their conversation. In his defense, they were alone in the game room and could reasonably assume they were not going to be overheard.

“Not really.” Despite this, she still took the time to look and confirm no one else was in the room. “I just noticed that Monokuma never cleaned up Kaede’s trap. Someone could get hurt, or just plain depressed if they noticed it was still hiding there in the library,”

That seemed...strange. The so called headmaster had gotten rid of every scrap of glass from the gym, but didn’t dismantle an entire murder method? “You’re right, it would be a failure of our duties to the other students to not get that cleaned up. Why do you want to wait? Angie didn’t give me anything to do, I could deal with it now.”

“Well if anyone saw you up there you’d need to explain what you were doing. And well, you’re no Kyuubey when it comes to twisting the truth Keebo.”

He couldn’t argue that he wasn’t exactly good at lying. He never had a need to lie, the things he’d read and been taught never encouraged that sort of behavior. Yet it seemed to be a human trait in general from his time here. Another thing to add to the list of ‘things to clarify’ if he ever got to see the professor again. Which he wouldn’t, if they all stuck to Angie’s plan. Something in him hurt at that thought.

“Well most people avoid the library anyway, I doubt anyone would notice what I’m doing.” he crossed his arms, hoping a bit of movement could distract his mind.

“Right, but why risk it? You don’t sleep, right?”

Ah. So that’s why she’d sought him out over anyone else. The robot that doesn’t need to sleep, not as a fellow student council member. “That’s correct, though I usually keep to my room.”

“So it’d be perfect! You’re probably bored all night, so you can do this. You get to help keep the peace and help the time pass at the same time! You’re the best one for the job,” her smile was infectious, and he found himself doing so despite his inner gripes.

“When you put it that way, it does seem like the most logical course of action,” he gave a small nod, adding the plan to his admittedly empty calendar. “I’ll get that cleaned up tonight. It’s unlikely there’s any real danger, but it would be just like Monokuma to use it against us if we ignore it.”

“You really are the best robot here Keebo! See you later,” she’d given him a thumbs up before turning and walking out the door at speed.

His face heated somewhat at the comment. Of course he was the best robot here, all the others were stuffed bears trying to kill them! ...It was still nice to hear someone other than himself say it. Her quick exit wasn’t even worth noting in comparison.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keebo had never assumed he would learn how to identify someone from the sound of their footsteps. Yet the world decided he had to develop the skill for one small, constantly lying reason.

“Oh you cheater! Did you seduce your cowfriend to modify your hearing?”

...He might not be jumping from being yelled at out of nowhere anymore, but knowing Koichi was nearby didn’t stop his words from being shocking. “I-I did no such thing! And it’s very rude of you to call Miu a cow!” he stammered, already frustrated. He already had enough data to know engaging with the taunts never did any good. The boy was just looking to bait out a reaction. Why did he keep falling for it?

“You’re right Kee-boy, it’s rude to the cows to say that,” he could practically hear the grin plastered on Kokichi’s face.

“Go away,” Keebo muttered, trying to pick up his pace across the courtyard. Yet the menace seemed determined to keep following him.

“We both know you aren’t in a hurry! No one looks for you unless they want something, other than me! You should appreciate how I take time out of my schedule for toys like you,”

His legs nearly locked up midstep. He should keep moving, Kokichi wanted him to stop and get more flustered and angry over the lies he was spouting. He was just bored. Yet the words seemed to worm under his protective plating to stab at a weak spot.  
“Well if you check our respective friend groups, no one likes to be near you either Kokichi,” the insult came quickly, even though he regretted it within seconds. 

“Well at least you admit you’re a toy, that’s progress! How does it work, I act sorry to you for a bit and then I have you as a minion?”

Keebo spun on his heel glaring down at the boy trailing behind him, face warm with what he could not decide was embarrassment or anger.  
“I am not a toy either, that was so obvious I didn’t respond to it. Please go bother someone else.” he tried to speak calmly, but from the way Koichi was grinning he’d probably let his anger slip though a little.  
He’d never get an apology from the so-called Ultimate Supreme Leader. He shouldn’t have stopped. The logic was solid, the only way to win was to not engage with the devious liar at all. Having the closest possible thing to emotions could be vexing, with how they made him do things that were illogical. Though...he was starting to understand them a little bit better.

“Hm? I’m only bothering something, not someone.” Kokichi didn’t even flinch from the rebuke, instead letting out a short laugh. “Did Angie play along with your human delusion so you obey her? Ooooooooor maybe Tsumugi likes enough anime to know how to control you!”

“I’m my own person. Find something else to amuse yourself.” It was a struggle to keep from yelling at the smug ultimate. How could he be so pointlessly cruel? Why go out of his way to just make insulting implications? It wasn’t as if Kokichi went and questioned every other member of the student council like this. Well. He might have, for all Keebo knew.  
...Why had he brought up Tsumugi anyway? Kokichi was always exhaustingly confusing, it was probably coincidence over who he brought up. Still, he felt the need to remember that.

“Ohhh, after going ‘Atua accepts robots’ she won you over with a hug right? Though you’re desperate enough that I bet a handshake would have been enough ya’know.”

“Her connection to Atua just resonated with me. Not that it’s any of your business,” he crossed his arms, tilting his head down to hide more of his face behind his collar. Was being strangely accurate about weak points part of Kokichi’s talent? Or was he just spouting enough nonsense that it was inevitable some of it would stick?

“What, you malfunctioned and heard the radio in your head and decided a God gave a shit about a machine? I’m so sorry for you.” Kokichi had stopped smiling for a few seconds before rattling off the insult, and it seemed forced now that it was back. Odd…

“...Did you add that lie out of habit?” Keebo asked despite himself, honest bafflement making him look up again. What was the point of a lie that fooled no one?

“Yup! Can’t help it!” he said cheerfully, but the smile was gone again as Kokichi looked down and studied their own hand for a long moment. “Kind of how you can’t help being excited by someone who’d probably like you better if you were in pieces! Since that bitch is the closest you’ll ever get to real affection, robot. Until she finds something better, like a toaster!” The dark cast in his face was at odds with the grin that had slipped back on.

He’d meant to hurt. He’d meant to intentionally upset him and degrade him and Miu at the same time. Keebo was getting rather fed up with it. Time to walk away and just ignore him completely, as even answering wasn’t shaking him off now. He needed to schedule a daily reminder to ‘Always Ignore Kokichi’. He personally didn’t approve of using violence to resolve your problems, but if Kaito offered to give Kokichi a good punch he’d probably say yes.

“Aw, did the truth make the lame robot break down? For a thing that claims to be their ‘own’ you sure can’t stand up for yourself! Do you need to ask Atua what to do?”

Kokichi was definitely goading him now, Did he have a reason to do that? It wasn’t like Keebo would do anything in response but speak, and he was done playing along with his sick little game.

“I guess when Miu kills you you’ll be alright with it, since she’ll pretend to be nice before smashing your hard drive. Oh, maybe you’ll ask her to do it! After all, you’re meant to serve humans, why else would we make something, hm?”

Keebo’s hand clenched into a fist.Showing anger was fine, humans did it all the time. It was only a problem if he acted on it.

“Oh I’m scared, the senior citizen moved. Are you allowed to threaten humans like that Kee-boy? If you have something that forces you to shut down I totally want to see it!”

He wasn’t strong, but Kokichi wasn’t exactly the picture of physical fortitude. Why hadn’t he walked away yet?  
It would be so easy to shove Kokichi to the ground.  
...He should definitely, absolutely leave.  
He could see it, a quick shove so the imp hit the cobblestones back first. He wasn’t a strong robot, but he had a decent amount of weight behind him. After that it would be simplicity itself to get in place before he thought to get back up. After all, he didn’t hurt people, he didn’t fight back. He abhorred violence. That’s why Kokichi would be unprepared for the robot slamming his full weight on his _infuriating, inscrutable, illogical neck_.

Keebo’s unneeded breath froze in his chest. Kokichi was still standing there, watching him. He staggered a step or two away. That thought wasn’t him. He would never, he could never- he almost stammered out an apology before catching himself. It couldn’t be his inner voice, that tried to help him make the right choice, didn’t it? The right thing could never be violence, let alone murder. Over insults!  
Maybe he was malfunctioning, like the previous version of himself. What could he do if he was? Miu might be able to try something...but then he’d have to admit he’d even thought that horrible thing. No. He’d just keep tabs on his behavior, and if it got any worse...then he’d tell her. Maybe. It wasn’t as if he’d acted on it.  
Where had it even come from? It was as if someone else had shoved a thought in his CPU. Yet it had been a fully formed actionable plan with reasonings on how he could succeed. Was he passively making horrible murder plans in the background and a process glitched and brought it to his conscious self? ...Potentially yes, but it wasn’t exactly a reasoning he wanted to accept. The last thing he’d want to do is make people think ‘horrible robots’ were a natural thing to fear.  
He wasn’t exactly sure when he’d run away from Kokichi, but as he pulled his room door behind him he could only be grateful the grinning teen had chosen not to follow.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fun facts: all the lines he considers are in fact in game and canon! On Kaede's last free time Himiko says _The time limit is tomorrow night... Maybe...we should kill the robot?_ if you go talk to her.  
It's kind of amazing how much the cast just dunks on him. Constantly.  
oh right i wrote all this because I craved more content and then wrote things. please validate my poor life choices. (I haven't posted fanfic anywhere in so long? why am i back on my robullshit) You know that if there were surveys on the internet there was probably an option to 'send the robot on a murderous rampage' near constantly so of course I had to toy with that idea. Kokichi ...probably knows what he's doing toying with that hypothesis (i apologize if it seems overly mean but he's a determined bugger)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi, Miu

It was the middle of the day, and instead of actually making use of the time his classmates were awake Keebo was cowering curled up with his back pressed against the door to the point it was actually starting to hurt. The discomfort wasn’t enough to make him change positions or keep his mind distracted, but he had managed to pull his legs in close enough to his chest that he’d stopped bothering with breathing. It felt a bit fitting. He wasn’t dealing with a human problem.  
At least, he was fairly sure it wasn’t one. There was something wrong with him, and he couldn’t even begin figuring out if it was a one time thing, or something that would escalate. After all, if it was going to be a consistent problem he couldn’t risk being around people. If he hurt someone because a wire got crossed or some part of his logic was corrupted he’d never be able to forgive himself.  
He’d planned to just keep an eye on it, but what if his judgement was completely shot? ...Logically he wouldn’t even consider that as an issue if it was damaged, but it was still nagging at him. Whatever emotion it was that was making him feel like someone had ripped open his skin and shoved a weasel in there, letting it scrabble and claw his insides into a sparking mess, he didn’t like it very much. Panic? Fear? Both, that was also an option. He knew fear well enough considering all the death...but this felt more immediate.  
It was rude, mostly. Keebo had expected it to pass a little sooner once he was alone and certain he’d not had any other deranged notions for a good ten minutes or so. He was still here, unmoving, and still not quite trusting himself to even stand up. After an hour. Really, he hadn’t actually done anything other than scare himself, but the feeling didn’t care how sensible that reality was. How could he be human enough to be crippled by irrational conclusions, but not human enough to be considered more than a machine? Who could possibly answer that question? Not that he’d be able to bring himself to ask it. Not here, anyway.  
Well, whatever...interesting insults Miu was going to yell at him for being late to something he’d asked for would probably be a distraction. If she added one vulgarity per five minutes she’d have more of those than actual words if he hid much longer.

He’d actually underestimated. The average was an extra vulgarity per every three minutes. Assuming she’d started with two to begin with, which was a little below average in fairness, but it was the only way he was going to get a round number in sixty second intervals. Seventy percent implied things about him he was literally incapable of, but that was normal. Miu was...interesting like that. At least he was treated like everyone else in that respect?

“I know, I’m sorry! I lost track of time-” he raised his hands in some feeble effort to hold back the inventor’s fury, wincing as she spoke over him.

“You have a fucking internal clock! Use it! Every second of my time wasted is a thousand inventions not made! Fucking ungrateful rustbucket, wasting time.”

Well, he did deserve that a little. “I’m sorry. I’ll just-go now?” Keebo started to step back away from Miu and her lab.  
Having her lean forward and grab his wrist to stop him wasn’t expected. 

“You’re already fucking here boltbrain. Leading me on and tryin to pull out huh?” She looked more amused than angry now as he found himself dragged inside, torn between wanting to pull his arm back but also not wanting to accidentally encourage her by doing that. Miu was...weird about negative reactions. “You’re lucky I want to take a look anyway, I might forgive you if you let me poke around in there.”

Was this what regret felt like? “It’s really only my upper back that’s a problem, since it’s hard to reach. I know you’re busy-”

“I just said you’re already here! Your audio in broken or something?” Miu finally let go after dragging him to what he assumed was an inventor’s table. The fact there were so many power tools hanging from the ceiling was making him a touch uneasy. She wouldn’t use them. It was Kokichi’s fault for even putting the idea of getting taken apart in his head.   
“You’re not walking out of here with some half assed job, got it? I’m not some whore that’ll leave you halfway there. Just get on the fucking table already.”

That wasn’t actually a question, if he’d been reading her correctly. ...and probably referencing things that didn’t make sense when applied to a robot again. So he sat down, curious about how quickly Miu was moving around her lab, fetching the tools she’d wanted to use. She almost seemed at home in here, and apparently knew where everything was. Were the others this quick on adjusting? She did spend a lot of time in here though, that had something to do with it. He’d almost expected it to be messier, with half done projects sitting on the counters against the walls. Apparently Miu saved all her cleanliness for the lab and forgot to keep some for her behaviour.

“You don’t have 360 degree movement on your joints right?” she called from across the room, snapping Keebo from his pondering.

“Yes, that’s right. Is that important?”

“Nah. Just wondering since your hands are more complicated than they have to be.”

Keebo blinked. She’d noticed that? Was it that noticeable? He thought they looked pretty close to human hands, if you ignored the fact they were made of metal and the seams in his palms. “Well they double as multi-tools, so I suppose that’s why they might look a bit off.”

“WHAT? Fucking why do you hide all the cool shit?” Miu crossed the room at startling speed, as the robot managed to cover up a small startled squeak while pulling his hand out of reach.

“...because everyone thinks it’s boring? Or weird.” he managed to answer, unsure how to say ‘don’t startle me like that’ without sounding ungrateful.

“It’s weirder that the robot doesn’t do robot things. I haven’t seen you try using those once!”

“Assuming I should behave in a certain way just because I’m a robot is rude, Miu.” he said with a frown, adding a glare when the remark made the inventor laugh.

“Oh fuck. I can’t decide if you’re depressing or hilarious.” If the laughter was anything to go by, she was leaning towards hilarious.

“I’d say neither is accurate.”

“I’m an inventor you blockhead. The others might be stupid fuckwits, but I’m not going to be bored by an advanced robot’s functions!”

Well, having someone genuinely interested in the Professor's hard work was nice, yet considering how unimpressed the other students had been, even when his recording ability had been actively useful had muted any real desire to ‘show off’.   
“There isn’t really much else, the other stuff is mostly for my own convenience,” he shrugged. “Playing my own audio and mimicking breathing isn’t exactly useful to anyone else.”

Yet Miu still seemed fascinated? At least, leaning that close and just staring at him indicated something. He didn’t enjoy being the one to move a conversation along, yet it was starting to look like Miu was perfectly happy to stare if he didn’t do something.  
“I am assuming you have good intentions but you are concerning me with your staring.”

“Ha! Don’t fuckin get excited, I just had some ideas,”

That...did not ease his concern. At all.

“Whatever. You said your back is the most screwed up right?” Miu did back up a step, at least.

“Well I didn’t phrase it like that, but that is the area I neglect the most. Unintentionally.”

“Fuckin bot that adds syllables instead of stammering,” Miu rolled her eyes at the clarification. “Lie down then! We don’t have all day here!”

He could argue that they did have all day, considering the situation. Though antagonizing someone who had ready access to power tools could be considered as a ‘bad move’. Better to just lie down. He had to be able to trust everyone. Still he wasn’t able to stop from gripping the edge of the table as he felt part of his back being removed.  
It was normal and necessary, you couldn’t get to his joints with the plates or his ‘skin’ in the way.  
He’d had this done plenty of times. Yet Miu wasn’t Father.  
...It was foolish to be frightened. He couldn’t stop from feeling uneasy. Being irrational was frustrating.

“How long have you been putting this shit off?”

“Uh. I’m not too sure?” Keebo admitted, frowning as he attempted to think back on it. “Regularly?” That wasn’t a time frame, which is what she actually wanted to know. Yet he couldn’t pick out ‘when’. That didn’t make sense. His memories should have had ‘when’ he made them.  
Another malfunction? No, he’d been having trouble with ‘when’ in the past something had been since he got here. Yet all his new memories were fine? He could recall when he’d seen each classmate for the first time down to the millisecond. So why couldn’t he even get a broad range like a month for anything else?

“Not regularly enough! Shit’s tight enough in here that there’s damage. How the fuck do you not notice joints literally shredding eachother?”

He’d been waiting for an added lewd remark before answering. Yet she didn’t make one. “I-I don’t know? I’ve felt normal enough, really.”

“Well you’ll feel like a fucking gymnast after if you’re used to moving like this. Drier than any woman who sees Pooichi in here, fuck”

“I guess I need to be grateful that you suggested this then. I honestly had no idea.” Which was worrisome. If it was that bad, shouldn’t he have known? He could feel pain, important areas in vital parts were more sensitive to act as a warning system for him. Perhaps the Professor thought joint pain wasn’t necessary with proper care. How long had it been?

“You bet your metal ass you do,”

“Well, thank you.” It felt like a useless remark, but he couldn’t really do much else to be grateful. Hopefully Miu didn’t mind too much. Surely she’d say something if he’d been too much of a burden?

“Hey. You absolutely sure you’re only meant to be human-like?”

Keebo blinked. “Yes, it was his life’s work. I’m still learning, but that’s what my body strove towards.”

“Well you’ve got a big chunk of spine missing.” The inventor sounded suspicious almost.

He didn’t want to make her think he was lying. Yet he had a feeling saying ‘I don’t know’ wouldn’t fly with her. Even if he honestly had no idea what she was referring to. “As in damaged?”

Miu gave a snort, pulling a screen down to where he could see it. “No, as in you’re missing parts, see?”

He had to grit his teeth to not make a noise of disgust at seeing himself. He wasn’t a perfect mimic of humans, but anyone seeing the mechanical mess that hid under plates and ‘skin’ would declare him just a machine in seconds. Yet he had to at least look at what she was referring to, instead of just feeling uncomfortable.  
The metal snake that served as his spine with all it’s wires and unnatural lights- he was getting distracted. Near the ‘shoulders’ area it seemed to cut inwards on both sides. It was too clean and deliberate for it to be damage. Something clearly was meant to fit in to those gaps. No wonder she’d asked that question, why would he need something there to be human?

“I suppose it might have been something in a previous iteration that the professor didn’t think was important enough to remove?” he looked away from the screen, staring at the table was preferable to being reminded how vulnerable he was at the moment.

“It’s close to this thing though. Doesn’t make any fuckin sense. I thought that light was just an indicator but it’s not.”

“It isn’t? I know to charge when it gets dim, are you sure you’re not seeing something right?”

“Yeah, I can fuckin read! It’s a second power supply.” she paused with a grunt, Keebo wincing at the jolt of something being shoved out of the way. “It’s barely connected to anything. The fuck you have this for if it isn’t going to power anything?”

“It could be emergency power, if my main supply took damage? I don’t know. I’m the robot, not the builder,” he ended up mumbling the last bit, discomfort spiking again. All the humans were smart and had their own talents while he was just the result of someone else’s work. Maybe Kokichi was just getting to him. Yet it wasn’t a lie, not really.

“That’d make sense if it powered everything. But it doesn’t interface with your legs at all, so that’s fucking useless as a backup. I can totally use this to power some new features though,”

Well, at least someone was eager. At least he didn’t have to explain why he didn’t feel like talking much anymore. Had something happened when he was dragged to wherever this was? He didn’t remember being different than this. Though his memory did already have an inconsistency with the whole time issue... 

“Earth to Major Tom, fucking turn over already!” her voice was suddenly loud and missing the casual cadence of previous questions. He obeyed without thinking, but the fact he could feel the table against his back meant it was back to normal. Whoops.

“Kaito’s the astronaut.” It was a weak objection, but surely he had to say something.

“Well you’re the ship computer if you space out like that all the time,” she snapped back, scowling.

Ouch. “Sorry. I was just thinking about what you’d been saying,” he glanced down at his hands, not wanting to meet her eyes at the moment.

“Good. Thought I’d knocked your fuckin brain or somethin.”

He’d managed to worry her by being unobservant. Why couldn’t he manage to do things properly? “I’m really sorry, I should have paid more attention-”

“I said it’s fine already! Geeze!” she prevented his attempt to sit up, looking him in the eye. “It’s shit like that that gets you walked all over, fucking use your spine.”

He’d rather be liked than generally viewed with disdain as Miu seemed to be, so taking that advice wouldn’t be the greatest idea. He could try to apologize less around her though, if she wanted that. Even if it felt weird. “Well you do know more about interacting with humans than I possibly could,” he said, taking care with his phrasing.

“That’s an understatement! You’re a fuckin needy robot, you know that?” she sounded amused again. “Lucky for you, I don’t mind that you need me so badly,”

She absolutely did not need to be that close, and the implication she was making was just embarrassing. Yet what was he meant to do about it? It was just a lewd statement, it didn’t really mean anything. “You’ve done more than enough Miu, if you want to get back to your own projects-”

Miu snorted. “Not a chance. Just relax and let me do my thing, we’ll both have a great time,”

She just had to phrase it like that. Keebo was pretty sure his face was red, unable to think of a thing to say. He already did feel more mobile from the other work, so she did know what she was talking about. It was just the phrasing. No, it wasn’t. Having someone pressed up against him intentionally was just. Weird.  
At least no one was there to see it, the fact he made weird little noises was bad enough without them knowing Miu apparently found them adorable. Humans jumped to conclusions all the time, but he wouldn’t blame them for hopping to the wrong one with how hot his face felt.

Even after thanking her and leaving he couldn’t quite sort out how he’d felt. Physically, he felt much better, perhaps not stronger but certainly more sure on his feet with the minuscule delay gone from his intent to movement. So he should be grateful and move on. Why did he care so much about a private embarrassment? Miu was weird, that’s all. Maybe he didn’t like ‘needing’ help.  
...He didn’t like how excited she’d been about his need to rely on her. He'd been somewhat alright with it before that.

He was being rude and ungracious. He even had some new features he could use and he was having quibbles about something he might have imagined. Yet it was the only thing he could reasonably try to correct. It wasn't like he could crack open a book and see why he was apparently missing things and not being aware of it. Yet he was no expert on humans. Korekiyo might have some ideas, but how could he possibly pose the question to him? Just ask to hear what he considered ‘important’ to humanity and try to steer from there?  
It was something to consider. It shouldn’t be too hard to find him, the strange third floor has his lab as well as Angie’s, if he remembered correctly.  
He’d go do that. Later. Right now he just wanted to move.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

‘What do you mean the entire reason you thought of this was trying to justify how keebo can struggle to play back a recording but is totally fine zipping around on a jetpack shooting a gun because mr ‘i don’t know how to computer’ did not improve his power use that much in less than a day’  
Miu and Keebo have such a weird relationship ok. Miu is full of bravado until pushback and Keebo is Designated Target doormat.  
Course we are still earlyish here.  
(i suppose some things are vaguely out of order but story flow. or something.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's quite a long night when you don't sleep through it.

The fourth floor still managed to feel completely out of place with the rest of the school. The school had always been strange with all the barbed wire and greenery trying to reclaim the building, yet this floor almost made the barbed wire feel comforting and familiar. The walls felt too close, the hallways too long and the lighting too poor. The ‘blood’ on some of the walls was probably just a cruel joke, but it didn’t stop him from tensing up at the sight of it. If Angie and Korekiyo didn’t have their labs on this floor, Keebo wouldn’t come up here at all. Miu had mentioned the computer room up here, but that was just overly sci fi for an extra way to feel uncomfortable on this weird, out of place floor.  
Korekiyo clearly did not share his discomfort, looking quite relaxed while sitting with a book close to his face within the cluttered lab. Keebo found himself hesitating at the sight, his classmate was clearly busy with something else. The screen door was rather quiet when you opened it, he could just close it and see if Korekiyo was willing to talk later

“If you hover around people’s doors like that Keebo, people will start considering you the creepy one,” Korekiyo had not moved an inch, but his voice didn’t seem to be chastising.

“A-Ah, I just didn’t want to interrupt you. You looked engrossed in that book, but if you wouldn’t mind talking,” Keebo stammered, letting go of the door. “How did you know it was me without looking?”

“I am aware that my enthusiasm towards anthropology and humanity puts people off, and fewer still seem like they wish to spend time and learn about them. So when I heard the door slide, I knew it was either Shuichi or you. The sound of flesh grabbing wood and metal doing the same made it rather easy to assume from there.” the book came down, a hint of a smile hiding behind the mask. “Apparently our detective is rubbing off on me, although you do need to deduce many things to get a proper picture of the past. I doubt that’s what you came by to learn though, yes?”

“That’s right. Though I haven’t actually figured out what I wanted to ask you, well more accurately how to phrase it. “ Keebo nodded, fingers fidgeting against one another. “It sounds foolish but my knowledge is more lacking than I thought sometimes.” He didn’t really want to meet the taller student’s gaze while admitting that. After all, he was usually pretty loud about being more human than they assumed.

“Better to ask for help and learn than to stubbornly push on with the wrong assumptions, my friend.” there was the hint of a laugh as he gestured to an empty chair. “Perhaps you were curious about why humans create deities to worship? Or perhaps how such things have been exploited across the globe? They’re both fascinating subjects,”

Well, neither of them were really what he was curious about, but more knowledge should be taken when freely offered like this, “They both sound interesting, I think I heard Angie complaining that you weren’t interested in gods though?” he tried to take the offered seat quietly before giving Korekiyo his full attention.

“You’d heard correctly. The gods themselves are merely a footnote. It’s the humans who hold the beliefs that are worth studying. That, and I suspect the student council and Angie might be your first brush with religion at all, correct?”

Keebo gave a short nod, not really wanting to admit it out loud. “You said ‘create’ and ‘beliefs’ though, does that mean they aren’t real?” Angie seemed very insistent she heard the voice of Atua after all. That, and his own inner voice was certainly not his own thoughts. Did humans not have that at all?

“Oh, they can be very real to the ones who believe. This might be a little difficult for you to fit with your experiences, but I’ll try and make it easier to imagine, Deities are often humanities attempt to explain something we cannot grasp. As humanity progressed, fewer gods were needed with the fear of the unknown banished by knowledge. Of course, humanity cannot truly examine and conquer death, so many gods you may hear about will deal with the unanswerable question of what comes beyond. For humans the threat of death is a constant shadow. Accidents, illnesses a multitude of things can cut a life unfairly short. We can be rather fragile, and some parts simply cannot be replaced.” He was resting his chin on a bandaged hand, watching Keebo’s face closely as if to make sure he was able to follow along. It seemed understandable enough. “With that comes the idea of a spirit or a soul, the essence of a person that lives on even after the death of a mortal form. I suppose you might consider such a thing as your AI persisting even if your body was inoperable,”

“Oh, I think I get the idea. Though it wouldn’t work that way in my case,” he found himself mimicking Korekiyo’s posture, hoping he was understanding properly.

“Hm? I was under the impression you were able to keep backups of yourself, considering your talent.”

“Oh, no. I’m meant to be as human as possible so well,” he paused, rubbing at the back of his head. “My AI can’t work without this body, and my body won’t work without this AI. I’m just as dead as any of you if one is damaged beyond repair. I suppose the professor could ‘remake’ me, but without my memories and growth my AI developed over time, it wouldn’t really be ‘me’ anymore. Even if we looked the same…” It had happened once before, and he didn’t really consider himself to be the one who’d harmed the professor back then. Even if he did still feel guilty about it happening.

“Fascinating. I can see why the promise of an afterlife might be more appealing to you then. I had assumed you might have less cause to fear death considering your more repairable nature. My mistake.” his eyes seemed to gleam with the knowledge, fingers twitching as if he wanted to scribble it down already.

“Do you think people have those soul things you mentioned? Since it sounds like you don’t think gods are real.” He had a second question, but had a feeling he wouldn’t want to hear the answer.

“Oh yes. I know they continue on after death, watching and guiding their loved ones the best they can. The social nature and love inherent to humanity is quite beautiful in that way.” he didn’t seem to be quite all there with those words, almost holding himself in an embrace.

“...I hope Kayde, Rantaro, Ryoma and Kirumi can see all their loved ones and aren’t stuck here then.” Keebo mumbled, unsure if the thought made their deaths more or less painful. It would be terrible if they couldn’t rest if they wanted to. The idea did make Angie’s comments about ‘being’ with Atua make a bit more sense though. He had wondered how that could possibly work when being dead was just..dead and done, forever. Gone.

“I’m sure they’re wherever they want to be. Though I suppose you can see how people might be more tempted by Angie’s reassurances while we’re trapped in here. Fear, uncertainty, an unknowable foe and sealed off from the rest of the world? It almost asks for a cult to form, if someone was so inclined.”

“I think we have enough problems with the Monokubs without worrying about something like that happening,” Keebo shrugged, tilting his head slightly when Korekiyo snickered.

“Well with that, we agree. Would you mind if I asked you something? If it is too personal, you can simply say so and I’ll pry no further.”

“Sure? I don’t think I’d know anything you’d be interested in, but I can try.”

“Ah, but I’m quite interested in the things humans create. You might not know the ‘why’, but I can probably make some assumptions from what you do know.” he paused to pull a small notebook from one of the drawers, flipping it open. “You consider your creator as your father, correct? Did he ever give you a reason he made you?”

Ah. That had been a bit personal after all. “Not really? I’m the culmination of his life’s work and more human than any robot before me. He’s never really expected me to do anything beyond improving on that. I guess that could be the ‘reason’?” Of course he shouldn’t need a ‘reason’ to exist.

“Interesting how ‘most advanced’ and ‘closest to human’ are intertwined. After all, you could have superior senses and capabilities, but it seems you were intentionally hobbled.”

“Or people are just robophobic by assuming all robots should fit a certain profile,” he objected, perhaps a bit louder than he needed to.

“Perhaps. Yet if something is the most impressive, surely it should embody all the traits of it’s kind and not just some of them?” the anthropologist raised an eyebrow with the question.

“Grh-” The statement wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t have to like it.

“My apologies, I know you can be sensitive. I am curious though, do you object so strongly because you don’t wish to be seen as similar to those ursine abominations?”

“Not that it seems to help.” he huffed, crossing his arms. “That and there are plenty of negative remarks about robots even when they aren’t involved,”

“Mmm, perhaps. I have noticed you comment on such remarks more than anything else when we’re in a group,”

“Well I’m a bit outnumbered when everyone’s together, and most things I would notice anyone could.” he found himself slouching a bit, as if that would make him easier to overlook.

“That does make some sense, but I had been starting to get the impression you almost resent being a robot at all,”

“Wh-what? No I don’t!” Did he? “I’m proud to be Professor Idabashi‘s finest work.”

“My mistake.” Keebo was sure the mask hid a smile, even if he couldn’t tell what had caused it. “It is a bit off topic, but have you heard the phrase ‘The path to Hell is paved with good intentions’?”

“I have heard it, but not really thought about it much.”

“Well as an example, consider a teacher attempting to encourage a child to spare their feelings, even though they are aware the child has no hope of achieving their goal. The child is in the moment less distressed, but feels the blow all the harder when they realize the reality that the thing they continued to strive towards, perhaps for years with ‘encouragement’ is something they can never reach. The intent can always be noble, but still cause more harm than good.”

“I think you are implying something.”

“I might be. Or it could just be a phrase I think you may be interested in. That’s up to you.”

“Well, thank you for your time,” Keebo said, getting to his feet and trying not to frown as he puzzled over what had been said. “I should let you get back to your reading,”

“It was no trouble. Though I know you dislike Monokuma and he Kubs, you might want to consider why they’re so confident in the face of insults, while you seem to struggle”

“I am nothing like them and have no intention of considering anything about them.” he spat, glad he had already turned away to leave. He could learn from those monsters? Why, because he was a robot? Next he’d be told to ask a vending machine for life advice! The wooden floors hollow thuds gave some satisfaction, petty as it was.  
It wouldn’t do to keep stomping around where the others might see him. Setting a good example was important in helping prevent any future killings. He didn’t like to think anyone would do such a thing again, but it had happened twice already.  
Keeping tabs on everyone was a bit harder with Kirumi gone. Dinner had gone from something nearly everyone attended to small gatherings of people at a scattering of hours. More worrying was a good deal of his classmates did not seem to come down to get something at all. He could understand being absorbed in something, but it wouldn’t do for someone to get sick because they weren't looking after themselves.  
Katio had some ability to get Maki to come along despite her glares, with the detective stumbling after as a sort of cautious third wheel. So they were fine. Tsumugi had spent some time with Gonta about an hour later, she was braver than he was. He could still feel the insects trying to crawl into his face. Not that it was Gonta’s fault, he just needed more time before approaching his lab again.  
No worries there. Himiko had slumped in with Tenko fretting along behind like a mother hen, the magician getting to sit as Tenko seemed insistent to do everything in preparing a meal. It had burned somewhat, he was pretty sure. Still, no fights and having meals was still a plus.  
Korekiyo took a meal alone and might have noticed Keebo glancing through the window, but hadn’t said anything about it.  
Which left Angie, Kokichi and Miu completely missing from the dining hall even though the nighttime announcement had played. Finding Kokichi would just be an exercise in futility, and probably a complaint about food quality even if he did succeed. Angie and Miu would likely be easy to track down, and should probably eat something before sleeping. He couldn’t be sure if the food he’d picked out was to their taste, but it was better than nothing.

“Miu, it’s getting pretty late,” he did his best to ignore the massive computer in the middle of the room, placing some food down. “I know you can go without eating, but you shouldn’t.”

“I’ll sleep when I’m fuckin dead!” she hadn’t looked up from the screen she was hunched over at, still typing away. “Go be a robo-nanny somewhere else Keebo,”

“I know I can’t make you, but you should eat something and rest within two hours. You could get sick.” he let out a long sigh, glaring at the computer a little. Stupid thing just let her stay unhealthily engrossed in it.

“Yeah yeah mom, I get it.”

“That and everyone who has died so far has done so at night. I don’t like to think poorly of anyone, but I’d be happier if you were safe in your room that locks at night, not up here.” It was a little crass to use the deaths like this, but she wasn’t really listening.

“Fuck, Keebo. Way to kill my mood,” the slight tremor in her voice made him regret his words.

“Sorry. Just don’t stay here all night, maybe?”  
He left before she could answer. After all, he should check in on Angie instead of worrying if he’d been too harsh. It had been important to say, or had felt that way.

Perhaps he had not needed to come though. Tenko and Himiko were there, though Tenko seemed to be leaving with Shuichi and Maki. Why had they come up here tonight? Tenko didn’t look very happy, something hadn’t gone well? Better to just stay back while they went, surely she had enough people who knew what was going on already. Still, perhaps he shouldn’t interrupt Angie for presumably the second time.

Fifteen minutes of hesitation counted as later, perhaps. No, he’d go back to the dorms and wait for a bit, deal with Tsumugi’s request when everyone was asleep and then go check on Angie if she was still awake. At least her lab door locked.  
He found himself stopping on the way to the stairs. He swore he’d just seen Kokichi dart into one of the three rooms.   
“Kokichi? Are you hiding?” he asked in spite of himself, but the lack of response did not surprise him.  
It wasn’t like it would be hard to check. He pushed the first door of the identical three rooms open, frowning as he stared in the candlelit room. No obnoxious person in white. He’d been sure he’d seen him. “Did you fall through the floor?” he asked the empty room, noting the damage in the back left corner. The room remained silent. There didn’t seem to be any new jagged holes Kokichi could have fallen through.  
Yet he’d seen him. Either that, or his memory was just adding people who weren't here at random. Strange. Part of him wanted to print the memory and ask someone if they saw what he did in the image, but that would be pointless before tomorrow anyway. It probably wasn’t important.

He definitely heard Kokichi’s door swing shut after he had returned to the dorms, which was just about the only upside to his room being beside his. Perhaps he’d been setting up a rude little trick up there? That still didn’t explain how he’d vanished. He doubted Himiko would have the energy to teach him magic tricks. Perhaps he should have looked into it more.

The mystery did give him something to ponder over while he removed the deadly trap from the bookshelves, destroying the neat path with sturdy but erratic stacks of books. He’d started alphabetizing them without noticing, and figured there was no reason not to make them a little easier to sift through if anyone did want something from up here. With that done and the grate vent no longer shoved down, it would be completely useless if someone decided throwing dangerous items via the vents was a good idea again.  
Angie shouldn’t be awake this late, he’d left only after being confident no one would hear him go, and he’d taken longer than he really had to. Yet the vanishing act was still gnawing on his processor like a rat.  
He’d check it out, make sure Angie was getting some sleep and then leave it alone. It may not matter, but no one was going to suffer if he didn’t just stare at his room’s walls for a few hours either.

The rooms were slightly different. The first one was missing a candle, but beyond that everything looked the same. No weird holes or scuffs, and the way the floorboards creaked when he stepped on them didn’t inspire confidence. Falling through the floor while it was still late might leave him trapped there if he couldn’t climb back out.  
So much for that plan.  
From what he could hear pressed against the door to the Artist lab Angie was asleep in there. Yet something wasn’t quite right. There was a smell?  
Smoke. Right, she’d planned to do that...ritual to bring someone back tonight. It didn’t seem wise, but she knew better than he did. It wasn’t a strong smell, whatever reason she’d needed fire for had probably been contained, but she probably shouldn’t be sleeping next to it. Why stay here at all if she was already done with the ritual?  
He knocked three times.  
A scuffling, some muttering and the door swung open, a tired looking Angie rubbing at her eyes. “Hmm? Did they make you taller Keebo?”

“Not that I’m aware of?” he answered, somewhat puzzled. “You must be tired, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I could smell smoke.” What he could see of the art room did explain the smell away. A pile of ashes littered the ground near the disturbingly half melted effigy of Rantaro, but there was no damage to anything else. He’d been worried over nothing, which suited him fine.

“Oh, that. Right. Wasn’t too sure on that myself, but I was too tired to go anywhere.” she smiled a bit, but seemed to notice Keebo’s confused reaction. “What, is something wrong?”

Angie sounded...nothing like Angie. “I know this sounds weird, but can you tell me your name?”

She laughed at that. “Geeze Keebo, are you kidding or really can’t remember again?”

Again? “The face I’m looking at isn't matching the behaviour of who I’m looking at.”

Now Angie looked as puzzled as he probably did. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

Why couldn’t people just answer questions? “Angie. It is her lab, the place I last saw her and you look exactly like her.” 

“Well, shit.” her eyes widened, glancing down and cursing a second time. “So much for ‘surviving’.” ‘Angie’ exited the room, glancing down the hallways. “It’s fine, it’ll be like old times. You take the lead and I’ll figure out a plan.”

“We need a plan? Lead where?” He couldn’t help frowning while watching ‘not’ Angie. They sounded familiar, but too much of what they were saying was throwing his guess out the window.

“Well I have no idea where we are, and you do. We’ll just get back to where we’re ‘meant’ to be, act like nothing’s wrong and I’ll figure something out from there.”

“You want to go back to the dorms then?” he grasped at the only thing that made even the slightest bit of sense.

“Whatever keeps us out of trouble is fine.”

Like being in their dorms would stop the fact they were trapped in a murder game. Whoever not Angie was, they were creeping him out. “Okay. This way,” he tried not to glance back at the body snatcher too much. Every time he looked just reminded him how completely wrong it was. Why did they know his name, anyway?

“Huh. Bigger place than I expected.”

“...You still haven’t said what your name is.”

“Oh. You were serious. Sorry Keebo. I guess I’m the one who looks different this time after all.” they gave a little shrug as they neared the dorm rooms. “Rantaro Amami. Guess they did a real number on you after last time, sorry about that.”

“Rantaro’s dead. I saw the body.” That, and this person didn’t seem like him, not exactly.

They looked at him strangely with that remark. “What, someone’s been running around pretending to be me and dying already?”

Keebo found it easier to point at the small image above Rantaro’s old room than try and answer that.

“Well then. Somebody screwed up big time. Lucky us.” the not Angie was grinning at him. “Hey, keep the whole who I am thing quiet okay? Well. As quiet as you can right now.” The clap on the back was overly familiar and just plain weird. Whoever this was...certainly thought they knew him.

“I can’t really hide things if someone asks-”

“No one’s going to ask, don’t worry. Call it an order if it helps you avoid the topic, kid.” they walked up to Angie’s room and opened it after fumbling through their pockets for the key.

He should have just stayed in his room today. What was he meant to do about any of this?

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you heard a noise that was the train careening off the plot tracks ohboy.   
I'm sure literally every person knows what happened. The only person we're fooling is Keebo.  
Hopefully people are enjoying enough to be interested on where the runaway train is going haha.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One secret gets out, but nothing gets clearer.

“Don’t worry about it! No one’s going to fall for the motive,” Kaito’s voice was as loud as ever, making it almost impossible not to eavesdrop on him and his ‘sidekick’.

“I don’t think Tenko would have asked for help if Angie wasn’t planning to do it,” Shuichi couldn’t sit still in his chair, tapping out a steady beat with his left foot. “I don’t think we convinced her either, she seemed pretty set on trying it”.

“Well we’d know if she did right?”

“Not necessarily…” the detective was frowning, hand close to his face “The motive doesn’t have to be flashy like the other two to work,” he trailed off, biting at a knuckle.

“W-well dead people can’t come back to life, so it doesn’t matter!” The astronaut was laughing, but judging by the looks everyone was giving Kaito, no one bought it.

“Monodam might be planning to drop a corpse in here in order to ‘return’ one of the dead” Kiyo commented, watching how Kaito seemed to jerk at the suggestion.

“Why’d you even have to say that, man”.

The conversation died with Kaito too pale to keep pushing it along. Gonta had looked like he wanted to say something, but had kept his mouth shut after a look around the room. Maybe he didn’t want to speak up with Angie absent, she had been the one who did most of the decision making.

When Himiko ran in the dining hall, hands trembling and face pale he had to fight off the urge to apologize. “Angie’s missing! We can’t find her anywhere!” The ‘we’ she referred to was cleared up with Tenko only seconds behind the distressed magician.

“We checked her lab and her room, has anyone seen her today?” Tenko added, sounding concerned but not panicked.

The rest of the group murmured and glanced at one another to reach the same conclusion. No, no one had seen her today, actually. The atmosphere in the room seemed to chill. Everyone was fearing the worst, but no one wanted to be the one to say it.

“She said she’d meet us before breakfast but she didn’t turn up!” Himiko’s voice managed to climb an octave as she spoke, trembling enough to be her own earthquake.

“It’s okay! We’ll get into groups and find her, alright? You just missed each other or something!” Kaito was already on his feet, half pulling Shuichi up with him. “With my sidekick on the case you’ll be laughing in no time!”

“Laughing at your shitty hero act maybe,” Miu snorted.

“But-but what if she’s missing because of the ritual? She had it all set up and-”

He seemed to pale again, but still managed to keep a confident pose. “All the more reason we need to all look together!”

“Ohhhh did the robot kill Angie to take over with it’s god instead? Rude.”

“Where do you even-” Keebo stopped himself with a shake of the head. “I can watch the dormitories if you want to check the other floors?”

“Alright! Anyone else have a preference or should I just start telling people where to go?”

“Who fuckkin died and put you in charge?” Miu crossed her arms, earning glares.

“I will return to the fourth floor, near my lab and keep an eye out for her. With the doors open I’ll be able to see if she tries going back to the Artist Lab.” Korekyio stood to leave. “It would be a shame to lose anymore friends, after all”.

Gonta sprang up, a determined look in his eyes. “Gonta will keep watch outside. Will come get others if Gonta spots Angie!”

Eventually they’d managed to cobble together a plan so that every floor and large area had someone nearby looking for the missing artist, while Kaito dragged Shuichi off to ‘use his detective skills for something that wasn’t a murder.’

He probably should have told them that he’d seen...her sort of the night before, so they had somewhere to start. Yet something made him hold his tongue. He was mistaken, or he’d just confuse the issue, it wasn’t important. Still, he wished everyone good luck before heading back to the dormitories, planning to stay near the stairs to see as much as possible.

“Hiding in your room is a real pain. You should really put something in there.”

He spun at the voice, feeling like something heavy had jumped on his shoulders. Well. Angie wasn’t dead, which was good. Yet she was still very much not Angie, now wearing two of her jackets, one on backwards to act as an awkward shirt substitute. “Everyone thinks you’re missing, why did you hide?” He should tell someone. It would look bad if he told someone. Why was this complicated?

The not Angie quirked an eyebrow at him “I need to know what’s going on before I go make all the others panic, they’ll think I’m lying if they know me and I don’t know them Keebo,”

“You do know them though? Not super well since you died first but still-”

“Nope. I know you and I know-” they paused, glancing down at their makeshift shirt “-who’s body is this again?”

“Angie’s?”

“Angie. Nobody else, since someone messed up.” they shrugged, still sporting a half smile.

“You’ve lost me. If you’re Rantaro you should know everyone?” Maybe he was lying. This whole ‘reviving’ thing was a motive after all...yet he felt like he could trust them. Was it just because they knew his name?

“Okay, let me try putting it this way. Monokuma’s told you he’s erased memories right?” they sat on the staircase, apparently unconcerned about being walked in on.

“Yes, and the flashback lights can restore them, or so he’s claimed. They seem to fit once we see them.”

“Okay, so before we got in here, that happened to all of us. So you knew ‘me’, but it was ‘me who forgot everything, including the fact I already knew you’.”

“Well I don’t remember ever-”

“Everyone includes you Keebo, the fact you knew me was one of those things Monokuma erased”

“...Right” he couldn’t keep the suspicion out of his voice. 

“So this motive thing was probably meant to get ‘that’ me back, who’d be just as confused and doomed to die as last time,” they gave out a long sigh, muttering something about being ‘set up’ before continuing “Instead, they got ‘me’ who didn’t have their memory wiped. Which is very good news for us so long as we keep it quiet.”

“I’m not sure how-”

“That’s the easy part, you just fill me in on the details dead me should have known and it’ll be fine. Names, talents, if there was anyone I was leaning towards trusting that would be good, but I could probably chalk any weirdness up to dying and being confused.”

Was this what being an accomplice felt like? Wouldn’t it be wrong to hide all of this? Yet the voice usually did not steer him wrong and it wanted to trust this ‘old’ Rantaro. He gave a slow, jerking nod, still torn. “I can do that, I know Kokichi was calling you ‘beloved’ but I don’t know if that was to annoy you or because he actually trusted you”.

“You’re going to have to describe people, or point out their rooms since I don’t know who you’re talking about.” The smile was still there, but it didn’t feel very genuine. It was more like he didn’t know any other expression to make.

“Oh, right. Sorry. This is confusing.” Keebo found himself stammering as he tried to give a brief rundown of the short period of time before Rantaro had been killed, an uncomfortable pressure nagging that what little he had seen was not enough to really deceive anyone.

Yet ‘Rantaro’ didn’t seem to have that fear, nodding and occasionally prompting him to repeat a name or a talent. They leaned on their knees, eyes unfocused, muttering something he couldn’t make out. “You know, I noticed something.” they were looking at him now, a casual smile back in place. “You’re apologizing a lot. Is there a reason for that?”

“No reason in particular, I’m just polite when I can be.” Like right now, when really he just wanted to go ‘you’re confusing me and creeping me out’ and let people know what was going on.

Their face seemed to darken at that answer, smile dropped. “I suspect someone was vindictive then. That might complicate things a little,” their chin rested on their sleeve covered hands, but kept their eyes fixed on the robot. “You’re not very confident right now, are you.”

He wanted to deny the statement, but it would be an outright lie. The robot settled for a halfhearted shrug. He could be confident, if his inner voice gave him a direction after all.

‘Rantaro’ gave a long sigh before standing back up. “I’ll need to keep that in mind then.” they glanced at the door to the rest of the school. “I’ll have someone else ‘find’ me, I don’t want the Mastermind catching on to their mistake,”.

“I thought the fact you were killed by Kaede’s plan proved there wasn’t a mastermind?”

“What? No, there’s a mastermind. Don’t forget that and keep an eye out,” the way ‘Rantaro’ said it made him feel like an idiot for asking. “Whoever it is will always be watching, even if you think you have complete privacy.” they stopped looking quite as serious, the smile crawling it’s way back into place. “Of course, you’ll be a big help in exploiting that fact,”

Exploiting? How did he manage to make even more questions with every word? “I’ll be careful.” he said, watching as ‘Angie’ took the stairs two at a time to get near the exit.

“Oh, one other thing. You tried hiding something to smuggle it in here. Left arm, second light. Not sure what you put under there, but hey, might as well tell you,”.

With that baffling line, they were gone, off to be ‘discovered’ for the first time. He’d hidden something? If there was something, would that prove their strange story? No, it could be a trick, something that had been planted to make him buy it.  
It did sound like a place he could hide something small though. His fingers found the release for his arm plate easily enough, eyes narrowing at the spot where the light was fastened to his arm. There was a small catch there, but there should only be the connecting wires under there, the covering more to keep things neat and separate from the more important clusters of wiring.  
It slid out of the way easily. He hadn’t dealt with the catch yet, it shouldn’t have moved.  
Still, he didn’t see anything out of place beyond a lose part.  
Was he glad for that? He felt better with everything locked back into its proper place, but the doubt was irritating. Was something missing? Maybe Miu had just knocked the catch and didn’t realize it, it wasn’t a vital part or anything.  
It was more likely than the story not-Angie was spinning, at least. Wasn’t it?

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

“Give Angie back you,you-you body snatcher!”

“I would if I could Himiko. I don’t even know if this is temporary or not-” Angie’s arms were up as they backed away from the scowling magician, a weak smile on their face.

Tenko came to their rescue, getting between the two of them. Yet she only seemed to have eyes for Himiko. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you! I’m sure it’s just a trick, and if he tries anything I’ll stop it!” she scowled at ‘Angie’ for a moment. “This is why I didn’t want to do this,”

“Well I appreciate not being dead, really. Monokuma might know something?” they were taking small steps backwards until out of Tenko’s throwing range, smile still locked in place.

“Monokuma got overthrown by his stupid robot kid,” Kokichi was standing on a chair to observe the mess of a meeting, his face strangely serious.

“Really? I guess I have missed a lot, is this everyone?” they sounded concerned as they looked around the room, as if counting and puzzling over who was missing.

“Yes. After Kaede killed you-” Tsumugi was cut off mid sentence

“Kaede killed me? Well. Huh. Didn’t expect that.” they managed to sound surprised, Keebo would have believed it if he didn’t know better. 

“After that Ryoma was killed by Kirumi, and now you’ve...possessed Angie or something?” the cosplayer still looked irked from being cut off.

“Can we call it something else?” Kaito spoke up, looking uncomfortable on his chair.

“I can’t think of a better word, seeing as Rantaro seems to have come back from the dead to speak with us thanks to the ritual,” Korekiyo was letting out one of his odd low chuckles. “I do have seances in my lab, we could see if Angie has joined the dead in Rantaro’s place, or is simply suppressed by him,”

“Then we should do it, before he curses us for not stopping Kaede...or whatever he’s planning…” the energy seemed to have drained out of Himiko as she slumped on a chair, but she still managed to glare at ‘Angie’.

“I’m not the Ultimate Curse Placer, so we don’t need to worry about that. There is something I wanted to ask though, my monopad was with my body, right?”

“You had a monopad on you but nothing else,” Shuichi was barely audible, talking more to the table than anything else.

“Hmm. Strange.” they gave a shrug. “Well, I’m back. Sort of. Still feel pretty weird.”

“Ultimate Ghost, maybe,” Himiko huffed.

“Well just need to not do anything rash while we get used to all this, alright?” Kaito was still loud, but looked to be trembling a little.

“What, like kill the green haired idiot a second time? Kaede’s dead already, fuckhead,”

“No, no killing! Gonta is confused, but there should be no killing. No one wants that.” Miu recoiled from Gonta’s enthusiastic response, nearly tipping over.

“How do we know he’s not going to kill anyone?” Maki’s voice silenced all murmurs. “He’s the motive now, isn’t he?”

“Because nobody is going to be killing anyone for something stupid like that, alright?”

“I think it might be considered...cheating if the motive just made whoever used it into a killer. I think they want our confusion more than anything else,” he tried to speak up, but still didn't feel the most confident about the whole mess.

“Kee-boy the humans are talking, you wouldn’t understand,”.

He swore the insults were practically a reflex at this point, he spat them out so easily. He managed to bite back a comment, at least.

“That is why I suggested using my expertise so we can find more answers in this matter. If we could speak to Angie it could clear up what had occurred to cause this,” he gestured at ‘Angie’.

“No one wants to do your creepy sex seances!”

“You would not be invited regardless,”.

“H-what?” She seemed rather put out for someone who’d been so against it a second ago.

“I think I’d rather ask the Monokubs if there’s a catch before doing anything. I’m just as confused as everyone else”.

“See, he doesn’t want to do it because he’s up to something!” Himiko pointed accusingly at ‘Rantaro’, who sighed.

“Magic the truth out of him Himiko, you can do it!” Kokichi looked like an excited child again.

“...I’m out of mana cus standing near him saps it” she pulled her hat down.

“Awwwww, that’s no fun,”.

“Well, I have one in mind. I’ll start setting up if anyone wishes to try and find some answers without relying on our tormentors,” Korekiyo got to his feet, giving a brief nod before leaving the room. Himiko stumbled after him with Tenko close behind, but no one else seemed in a rush to participate.

Kokichi seemed impatient, flopped on his chair in a dramatic fashion. “Aren’t you going to go ‘trust’ them and save the day already?” he scowled when there was no answer “That’s you space case! Why are you just sitting around with your sidekick?”

“Huh? Right! I should, go check on them-” Kaito left, but he wasn’t heading in the direction of the stairs.

“I don’t really want anything to do with it, but we should probably check it out,” Rantaro said, rubbing their head. “You coming Keebo?”

“Sure?” he stood, trying not to frown as Kokichi practically flew out of his seat.

“He’ll just make everything noisy, or try and steal your soul!” His tone was playful, but the speed of his objection made it ring false.

“...I think he’s trying to ask to come as well,”

“Did I ask for a translation program? No. Shhhhh.”

“Maybe you should just go with Kokichi, it’ll keep him busy,” Keebo sat back down, unsettled by the vitriol in the smaller boy’s voice. It was too similar to that time he’d wanted to actually hurt him.

“Suit yourself.” there was a hint of exasperation hiding behind that smile, but no other complaints as they were dragged off by the overlong sleeves, Kokichi going on about solving a mystery.

\---------------------------------------------

Surely Nothing Will Go Wrong.  
Part of me is going 'go faster' but the cast is fun and I don't want to ignore all of them. Hopefully it is enjoyable as i throw around details so we can all be confused.  
i'msorryifigotnameswrong


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The seance goes perfectly.

“Fuckin virgins and their fucking bondage rituals, no one wants to see that shit,” Miu was the only one muttering with the group so deminished, but her comments only helped make the group even smaller.

It didn’t feel like a good idea to go off alone, not with so many mysteries up in the air. What would they do if Monokuma decided it had been too long without a death and ended the kubs ‘uprising’ with some new motive? Or there was some second catch behind the necronomicon they weren’t aware of yet. That, or someone wanting to be out of this place might justify that Rantaro had already died once...or blame him for that fact Angie seemed to have been replaced.  
He was overthinking things again. Everything was fine? He didn’t have any reason to assume something was afoot. Still, he didn’t feel comfortable watching Miu wander off to go spy on the so called ‘freaky fuck fest cult shit’ alone. She hadn’t been invited, and wasn’t very popular.  
That was a bit of a rude way to admit he was worried she’d get herself killed, but what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her? She didn’t seem to object to his tagging along at least.

“Bet they’re doin some fucking in the dark cus they’re too ugly to look at”.

“I’d advise keeping our opinions quiet, or they might realize we followed them…” Keebo hissed, glancing at the closed door. They’d been able to hear the muted rise and fall of conversion before, but it seemed rather quiet now. “They might be finished setting up”.

“Yeah, then we’ll just listen for their pathetic moans- wait what the FUCK is that!?”

Wincing at the volume, Keebo turned to look at what had distressed his friend so much. Some sort of bladed weapon? Just out in the middle of the floor? “I think it might be a sickle. A very small one, though,”.

“I don’t see any fucking crops that need cutting! The fuck is it doing here?” her words came quickly as she grabbed the discarded weapon from the floor. “Fuckin bastards leaving deadly shit on the floor, careless fuckin idiots”.

“Uh. Do you have a plan on what to do with it then?” He didn't like the look of the thing, but at least it wasn’t bloody. “Though I suppose we should be concerned about who brought it here and why…”

“Why’d you think I asked that, ya fuckwit” the inventor rolled her eyes, stalking down the hallway. “I’ll stash it in my lab with my tools, since apparently I’m the only one who stores dangerous shit properly!”

“Should I follow you or stay here? I am concerned that there are more weapons like that around,”

“You look around, won’t cut your foot open if you kick something sharp in the dark. It’s like these virgins want to be fuckin killed,” she was practically spitting as she left the fourth floor, deadly weapon in tow.

Well, it was true that Miu had plenty of things she could stab someone with if she planned on murdering someone, so another one wouldn’t make much of a difference. He couldn’t think of anything better to do to dispose of it.  
Who had found that thing in the first place, and why was it here? It didn’t look like it came from Maki’s lab, but he could have overlooked it. He wasn’t able to think of a legitimately harmless reason for a sickle to be up here. It was wrong to assume someone had planned to do something with it, but with what facts he did know there wasn’t another logical explanation.   
If they kept quiet about finding it, would the person find another weapon and try something else? Or maybe they’d realized it was a terrible idea and had abandoned it with the weapon...then calling it out might just make things worse.  
Better to let Miu choose to mention it or not. She had been the one to find it, after all.

It was better to just keep an eye out and rule out who it might have been. Loitering near the stairs wasn’t exactly exciting, but it would be the only way to confirm who had been on this floor before they found it. He would have noticed it yesterday, though it could have been up here after that...no, surely someone would have moved it if they spotted it. It couldn’t have been lying around very long.

“Sorry Himiko! Angie’s ghost snubbed us hard. Orrrrrr creepy Kiyo screwed his little seance up,”

“We did everything perfectly, it simply means Angie is not dead and could not respond to us,” there was a fire in Korekiyo’s tone that didn’t match his words, Why did he sound so angry?

“It’s not like we know if that seance has ever worked before, it could be made up,” Angie-no Rantaro was shrugging.

“Says the bodysnatcher from the dead!” Himiko was in his face, the shrug turning into a ‘please don’t punch me’ gesture.

“I’m sorry Himiko, but maybe it’s a good thing? Maybe she’ll come back?” Tenko attempted to divert the magician’s attention.

“The book didn’t make it sound temporary,” he almost missed what she said, the mumble was so low.

“There was a book? If we could read it perhaps-”

“You had to burn it for the ritual, stupid”

“That’s unfortunate. Did no one think to write down a copy in case it was important later? Rantaro ignored the jab, eyes closed in thought.

“Nah, Angie brainwashed her cult. Not that any of them were very smart to begin with!” Kokichi had to dash out of the way of an irritated Tenko, but it didn’t stop him from laughing. “Bet half of them didn’t even READ it!”

“I’ll look into other methods we can pursue. If that ‘necronomicon’ works, there must be something in my lab that will as well,” he sounded calmer now, but strangely distant.

So only Korekiyo, Tenko, Himiko, Kokichi and Rantaro had been up here...and no one had been alone very long based on how they’d left the dining hall. He wanted to blame Kokichi on principle, but he seemed more like someone to drive someone else to murder. Would it be beneath a so-called leader to do the dirty work himself?  
Shuichi would be better at puzzling this sort of thing out. That, and he’d rather get moving before Kokichi noticed him listening in.

\-----------------------------------------

“Looking for something?”

“You could say that. I do not really expect to find anything though.” Keebo answered, thankful that the door to the storage room was noisy enough to give him warning. He shoved the box he was looking through back onto the shelf and looked back. “Did you learn anything useful on the fourth floor?”

“Not about this,” he paused, gesturing to Angie’s stolen body. “I did avoid a murder. Though that might have been a poor choice,”.

“How could avoiding someone dying be a bad choice?” He stared at Rantaro, feeling rather cold. Perhaps trusting him had been a mistake after all.

“I messed up an overcomplicated plot. If whoever did it is serious about this, they might be harder to pin down if they do something simple in a rage,” he was shrugging as if that was obvious. 

“It would never be better to let someone die because it would make things easier for us, That’s just inhuman,”

He seemed amused by Keebo’s word choice, smirk back in place. “I agree. We want to end the game, not play along with it. You need to be realistic though. They’re not going to be satisfied if nothing interesting happens for too long,”

“You think people are watching this?” Who could be sick enough to want to watch that?

“I know there are. I’ve done this before, remember? No wait, you don’t. Shoot.” he was rubbing at his forehead. “That aside, did you ever see a strange monopad around? I should have had two, but everyone says my corpse had one. It wasn’t in my room when I got a kub to open it either,”

Did he say strange things like ‘doing this before’ to confuse him? So he’d give up information without thinking too hard? How could that help? “No, I didn’t. You were holding one in the pictures Shuichi had,”.

“Hmm. So if I did have the perk, it’s gone now. Not that it helped me much the first time,” he sighed, leaning forward a bit.

“Not that what you are refering to isn’t important, but how did you prevent a murder exactly?”

“Oh, that’s easy. There was a weapon hiding in the folded cloth I’d been sent to fetch so I tossed it. It might have been to frame him, but you should probably keep an eye on Korekiyo. It was his whole idea after all,”

Well. Mystery solved on where the sickle had come from. “Oh. Miu found that. It’s dangerous to leave that sort of thing lying around”.

“Less dangerous there than in a dark room,”.

“I suppose so, but why not confront him then? You weren’t alone,”

“I’m not in a big hurry to die again by cornering someone already in a murdering mood Keebo. It could have been a set up. I need to be careful, I’m more fragile than you are”.

“It’s not like I’m invulnerable,”.

“You’re not going to bleed out if someone stabs you either,”.

Had him there. “That is...accurate. I still wouldn’t enjoy it, mind you. It would still hurt”.

“Don’t tell Kokichi that. I’m not sure what you did but I think he trusts you about as far as he could throw you,”

“I am aware that he dislikes me, I do not know why either. I assume he just enjoys annoying me,” he frowned, not really wanting to think about Kokichi and his robophobic behavior.

“I’m probably going to have to keep playing one against the other so I don’t look overly friendly with you, so apologies if I don’t remark on his comments. I can’t act too differently from how ‘I’ used to”.

“Well that won’t be anything new,” he muttered. So much for possibly having someone else react to the hurtful swipes directed at him.

At least he did look apologetic. “Sorry. It would tell too much to explain why I can trust you. It’s probably safer that he doesn’t trust you anyway. The less the mastermind knows, the better”.

“I suppose that is logical. I’d say I would avoid you in his presence, but I’m sure he’ll have you avoiding me. Unless he’s planning on insulting me, then I can’t get rid of him,”

“It’s a plan. Though I do have something you might want to try while it’s still quiet around here. You know where that door the mastermind probably goes is, right?”

“Everyone does, considering where you died”

He pulled a face at this, perhaps finally catching on that talking about his own corpse was weird. “Right. Have you tried breaking it down?”

Keebo could only stare at him, trying to see if there was a hint of movement that would indicate Rantaro was joking. “With what? I’m not that kind of robot,”.

“Didn’t stop you from breaking down doors you didn’t want in the way before. How did you put it, you’re just as solid as the door and twice as stubborn?”

“I wouldn’t do that,” his brow furrowed, this lie was baffling. It didn’t even make sense.

“Well you did. A lot. What, did you think they wanted me to know about you? Scared me half to death slamming into my door for a good hour before the thing was too warped to keep it locked. Not great for a quick escape, but we’ve got nothing but time in here,”

He seemed relaxed, even amused recounting what could only be a barefaced lie. Slamming into a door for that long would hurt, even if the damage to himself would likely be minimal. “So you’re saying I should...throw myself at a door for hours,”

“I don’t think they’d let you get away with it for hours, but seeing who would try to stop you might be enlightening. If we’re really lucky the mastermind could slip up and mention you’ve done that before.”

He was serious. “Why would I break down doors? For hours?”

“Escape attempts. We never got very far, but making them have to replace things was always an upside. Then I guess they figured out a way to keep you unconscious since you stopped breaking in. I even had a decent chunk mapped out before that,” he sighed, glancing back at the closed door. “At least we gave them a headache. So if you don’t have any plans, you could try getting on the mastermind’s nerves with an ‘old habit’,”

“I’ll look like I’ve gone mad,”

“It doesn’t look like people go down there very often. It’s up to you though,”.

“I guess I’ll think about it,” he said, though his mind was already filing it away as ‘too stupid to even consider. Maybe Rantaro thought they knew each other, but he’d gotten some weird fake memories somewhere along the way. Escaping by shoulder slamming a door for hours? That was just illogical.  
Even once he was alone again the idea was abhorrent. He wasn’t some destructive machine. What if it did draw out the mastermind? Wouldn’t that be worth some embarrassment? Part of him was insisting it wouldn’t be, but surely almost anything would be worth stopping the killing? Kaede had even killed to try and stop it, and he was leery of pointlessly hitting a door.  
He shouldn’t.  
He should?

The monitor clicking on stopped any further pondering.  
“A body has been discovered. Everyone please assemble in the Ultimate Artist Lab.” Monodam’s announcement may not have been as sickeningly cheerful as Monokuma’s had been, but the dread it brought was the same.

Why now? Who? He didn’t really want to know, or believe it.   
He was there before he really wanted to be, and could hear the ones who had made it to the room before him expressing their shock.  
At least he was unable to be sick. Headless effigies, still so uncomfortably lifelike stood in a semi circle.   
No.   
There was one too many. One that was too real.. That was part of someone’s spine, not wax. Blood, bright and sickening. Still wet, still fresh and leaking down the stump that should have held a human head. Part of him wondered how the body was upright, while the other was consumed by the desire to cover his eyes and look away.  
He couldn’t watch the crumpled sobbing mess Himiko’s face had become, how she kneeled and begged and pleaded at someone who couldn't hear her, didn’t want to see Kaito trying to pull the bloody girl away from Tenko’s lifeless head.  
The sounds were almost worse. Almost.

\--------------------------------

Some things change and others stay the same!  
sorry tenko, doomed again for character development  
This is on the shorter side but honestly i'm way too wordy anyway so eh. Investigation/trial bits are going to be Interesting, that's for sure.  
maybe keebo will actually talk to shuichi instead of just watch him, finally.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Investigation START

“First you kill Angie, now Tenko too?! You’re the worst! I hope it hurts when that bear kills you! And your whole family gets stuck in pointless love squares!” Kaito no longer had to worry about keeping Himiko away from the corpse when she spotted Rantaro, but still kept a hold of her sleeve so she didn’t run forward.

“I didn’t do anything to Angie, and I had nothing to do with this, either.” It was weird to see ‘Angie’ cross their arms and glare at the distressed magician, even though the scowl vanished quickly. “We won’t know how much time we have to investigate, so save being angry when we aren’t facing a life and death trial, alright?”

Maybe he had done this before. He seemed confident in a way that was almost discomforting. He wasn’t shaking, or struggling to even look at the body even though he’d been one of the last ones to get here. Instead of the shock and disbelief of finding a friend dead, it was as if he saw Tenko and went ‘here we go again’. He was the robot, and he could barely manage to look for very long before needing to avert his gaze. How could Rantaro manage it?  
It was awful, and illogical. Who would decide to kill again, who could be cruel enough to go as far as removing her head? Tenko had been a bright and energetic friend, even if her level of disdain towards the boys was a bit troublesome. She still wanted to help everyone on some level, or she wouldn’t have joined the Council. Who could even justify doing all of that to her?  
Wondering why wasn’t going to help catch who had done this, but he didn’t even know where to start. What if he accidentally moved something important and made Shuichi miss a vital clue? Just...don’t touch anything, only look.  
If he could stop fixating on the sheer wrongness of a headless body, his earlier thought was at least quickly answered. Some sort of rope was tied to the open ceiling beams, keeping her body from toppling lifelessly over like it should. Sure, it matched the defaced effigies now, but it didn’t seem to have much of a point. It was the middle of the day! Who had time to do all this? Why bother and risk being caught in the act? Though humans were often illogical.

“Honestly! I almost had to cut my vacation short! So you punks better be grateful for this!” Monokuma had shown up as he always did, without warning while being obnoxious. The way the monokubs were cowering from the larger bear gave Keebo the impression he’d missed something important. Monodam’s little revolution did appear to be over though. A shame, at least the smaller ones weren’t so excited when his friends died...though having none of them at all would be best. The black and white bear shoved the Monokuma file at Shuichi, who was too focused on the file to bother responding to anything else the bear jabbered on about.  
He should probably keep out of his way. He actually had a useful talent for this sort of thing.

“Not to worry, Atua will make sure the culprit is punished for disrupting our peaceful lives here! The handsome god will make sure poor Tenko can rest in peace”.

“A-angie?” He wasn’t the only one to react that way, Himiko looking just as shocked as he did.

“Yes? It is Tenko who is with Atua now, not me, but I can still speak with them to guide everyone,” she seemed completely unaware of their baffled looks, only blinking a little when Himiko tackled her in a hug before returning it. “Atua appreciates your support Himiko, I’m sure we’ll have an answer soon!”

How was ‘Angie is Angie’ suddenly so weird? “Angie, do you remember anything from the past day or so?” he asked, an unwelcome thought crossing his mind.

“Hmm? That’s how long it’s been?”

“This is unfortunate. If you don’t have any memory of that time, you won’t have any usable testimony.” he frowned, realizing ‘unfortunate’ might not be a strong enough word. “Any alibis or important information Rantaro might have known is completely lost.”

“Who cares...We don’t need his help to find out who did this,” Himiko apparently thought being angry was too much of a pain again, almost inaudible with her mumbling.

“Monokuma, if Rantaro did a crime in Angie’s body, who would be punished?” Shuichi asked the question, eyes flicking between the monopad and the bear.

“Ehhhh? I don’t care who’s driving, the body who does the crime is the culprit no matter who’s idea it was!” Monokuma let out a laugh at that.

“That means you’ll kill an innocent person!” Tsumugi looked horrified by the idea, backing away from the cackling bear.

“Innocent-shmicent, shoulda thought of that before letting someone control them!”

He could swear Monokuma was looking at him with that cruel red eye when he said that. Was that a threat? No, that was irrational. The insult to robotkind was just making him uneasy, and he was already disturbed enough with Tenko being dead.

“So we can have a murderer who’s completely absent for their own trial. That seems like quite the handicap, and unfair to the innocent party if you execute them for the other’s crime”.

“I don’t get to execute an innocent person too often! So I don’t care!” Their so called headmaster kept laughing as they leapt off to wherever those weird things went, leaving the group to silently wrestle with the idea.

He didn’t think Rantaro had done anything, and he didn’t expect Angie to kill anyone in the future either, but the idea that it was possible to send someone completely innocent to their deaths in order to be ‘right’ left him cold. Yet they were getting off track. He could worry about that if evidence started pointing in that direction, not before.

“Gonta noticed not lots of blood on floor, might not died here?” the gentle giant looked like he’d finished wiping away tears, it was impressive that he’d noticed something so important so quickly.

“Oh, Gonta’s right! Tsumugi should go look if there’s blood anywhere else, so says Atua,”

“Well, okay. If there’s any plain to see I’ll let everyone know,”.

“Gonta, can you lift all the effigies? Atua wants to see if the way they’re placed is hiding anything from our mortal eyes,”

He nodded before quickly getting to the task of checking the headless wax effigies, as Angie spun a few times, observing the room. Chewing on the handle of a paintbrush she paused to watch Shuichi and Maki examining the body.

“Maki, did the one who did this get the weapon from your lab?” she asked, still smiling as Maki glared.

“Ah, we aren’t too sure what killed Tenko yet. It’s possible, but it’s a bit strange…”

“Sure, if the killer could swing something hard enough to decapitate someone in a single blow. So I doubt it came from my lab.” Maki added after the detective gave her a pleading glance. “I don’t have swords in my lab, either.”

“Soooooo a trained killer like you could do it?”

“Gonta would probably have a better chance at it,” she practically growled in response.

“No! Gentlemen do not cut off friends' heads!” he objected, still holding an effigy off the ground. Was that a bloodstain under it? It was pretty smeared…

“Keebo, can you check what Kiyo, Kaito and Kokichi are up to? They should share information freely for the good of everyone,” Angie was still managing to smile while giving the suggestion.

“...Are you sending me because all our names start with a K?”

“Atua works in mysterious ways,” there was the slightest nod.

Well, she had a point, there were enough people investigating in the art lab for now, and he certainly didn’t trust Kokichi to share anything until he thought it was fun. Unless he was cornered ahead of time. He could always try and find Miu while he was at it, she’d fled the room rather quickly.

Kiyo hadn’t gotten too far, apparently busy examining the middle room of the identical trio, though the leavings of the seance made this room notably different than the other two now.  
“I didn’t hear anything from my lab, though I can admit I might not have been paying close attention. Though Angie’s return may prove the seance was perfectly performed, and only failed because we were calling someone not yet departed from this world,” Korekiyo seemed less frustrated, but was difficult to keep on task.

“That’s good, but I’m more curious about what happened after that. Did Tenko go with someone, did you see where? Anything that might help us avoid pointing to the wrong culprit?”

“Tenko was with Himiko the last time I saw them. She was quite affectionate to her, even though Himiko seemed to spurn her. Such a tragedy, to only see their value once she is beyond you…Though I did notice something strange,” he paused, gesturing to what looked like a cage. “Someone came in here and ran off with the white cloth I had. I can’t imagine why, there were plenty in the warehouse to take”.

“Well I was in there most of the afternoon, maybe they didn’t want me to spot them?” Keebo considered that fact, but something felt off. Who would have known he was there? Why even care? He wouldn’t think much about someone taking something like that. Unless it was important to their murder plan…

Kaito was far less helpful, hunched over a table at the dining hall, pale faced and sweating.  
“Sorry, thought I could keep looking down here. Probably should have listened to Maki and gone to my room though.” he grunted, seeming to struggle just to speak clearly.

“Yes, you should. You look unwell. I could help you back to the dorms, if you need assistance?”

“No, no. Just need a rest. Won’t be much help, I’ve been in my room after the Rantaro thing.” his normally cheery tone was flat, perhaps he felt guilty for not investigating more. “My sidekick’s got this, it’ll be okay…”

He couldn’t convince the stubborn astronaut to be to take the help, which left him the worst task. Finding the classmate that seemed to actively dislike him. Maybe he could just go investigate and forget him entirely. Yet Angie had asked him...and she was the head of the student council, even if the status of that was a bit up in the air considering the whole Angie is sometimes Rantaro problem. If that was going to continue, anyway. Maybe he was just gone again...was it again if he claimed to be a different Rantaro? Debatable. 

“Hey! Hey! Come test something with me Kee-boy!”

As usual, he’d been found by Kokichi, instead of the other way around. Right when he’d decided to give up and report back what he’d found and there he was, bouncing outside the third identical room’s door.

“Does it have to do with Tenko’s murder? We don’t have time for games”.

“It might! Or maybe I just want to see you fall in a pit, who knows!” He gave a wide grin before darting inside.

Off to a great start already. Still, best to check. He pushed the door open and blinked, empty room puzzling him. “So you were hiding in one of these rooms that night?”

“Ooooh so you do remember details! Better remember that when I try to kill you!” Keebo jumped as the voice came from below him, peering at the darkness between the slats.

“How did you get down there?”

“Not important! Can you seeeeee me with your special robot eyes? Huh? Huh? Can ya?”

“Not really. There isn’t much light up here to get down there,” he paused, considering. He could make it brighter here, actually. “Let me try something.” It had worked fine when Miu first set it up, but he hadn’t really needed to use the light function since. Yet surely it could help?

“Hey! What did ya do up there? Wait I don’t care, just keep it lit, I think I see something-” Kokichi broke off, while Keebo squinted and tried to make him out based on the shuffling noises below. The gaps were too narrow to really make anything out clearly even considering his own eyes were providing the light, but at least the light had helped, somehow.

“Something? Like what?”

“Your self esteem! It’s pretty sad actually.”

“This is serious, you shouldn’t hide things that might lead us to the killer”.

“Well if I’ll tell you, you’ll blab to your cult, and then it’s useless! So really I’m helping everyone by telling you to keep your stupid metal head out of it!”

“I’m not in a cult”.

“Uh huh, that’s why when Angie says jump you all ask how high when she just magically shows up to screw us all over! But you’re all weak willed idiots, so no surprises there,” he could hear the smug grin Kokichi was probably sporting. It was petty, but shutting off the lights did give a bit of satisfaction when he complained. “Great, now it’s waaaay darker”.

“Don’t hurt yourself getting out of there,” he called down before turning to leave.

“I would just to spite you, but I’m a delicate flower, so I probably won’t,”.

How could one person be so exhausting?

Even though he had to take far more time to relay what he’d learned to Shuichi, doing so was almost pleasant in comparison. If the detective had any rude remarks to make, he was at least polite enough to keep them to himself and focus on the task at hand.

“So the only person you saw once you went to the warehouse was Rantaro?”

“Unfortunately. I was trying to figure out if that sickle Miu and I had found had come from there. I did not find any others like it,”.

Shuichi looked a bit curious at this, flicking through his monopad to double check something. “Then as far as you know, Miu had the only one?”

“Rantaro didn’t mention another, and I didn’t see one here, but I didn’t check anywhere else. Of course you only have my word on that, unless he told someone else? It’s not that I didn’t miss Angie, but losing his input now was...unfortunate”.

“Not about how he found a weapon and ditched it, no. Well, if he told Kokichi, he doesn’t feel like sharing with everyone right now,” he wrinkled his brow. At least the ‘supreme leader’ annoyed everyone like that.

“Well I’m sure you can puzzle out the oddities. You are the Ultimate Detective, after all,” Keebo wasn’t quite sure if it was a good thing that Shuichi’s face reddened a little at the complement.

“Well, I’ll do my best,” he was muttering a little, before glancing back at Maki. “One other thing, can you carry this axe?”

Maki clearly didn’t have any trouble hefting the weapon, but to him it looked rather heavy. “I doubt it. I might be able to drag it along, but there’s no way I could swing that.”  
A quick check confirmed that indeed, he would not have a career as a robot lumberjack.

“Oh there you are Shuichi! Atua was right to send me, I think I found the murder weapon!” Tsumugi said with a gasp, apparently having run up all four flights of stairs to get back to the art lab.

“You did? Where?” the detective sounded surprised, or perhaps he was confused, Did Shuichi not expect there to be a weapon to find or something?

“The Ultimate Magician’s lab! Come look, it’s plain as day once you see it,” she said before heading back out the door, the detective hot on her heels.  
Maki scowled for a long moment before letting the axe drop with a heavy thud before following. He wasn’t too sure if it was the best idea to just leave an axe lying around, but giving the assassin a reason to swing it at him didn’t seem like the wisest idea, keeping his mouth shut as they followed the others.

Tsumugi hadn’t lied about the blood being obvious. The guillotine, something that should really only be a prop for a trick had a bloodied blade, splatters smeared on the floor around it.  
“I thought that was a fake blade,” Keebo grimaced, checking if any other ‘trick’ had sharp objects missing that he should be concerned about.

“We better not need to waste time getting Himiko to explain the trick again”.

“I don’t think we’ll have to. I think the trick has to do with the neck area, but it’s clean,” Shuichi looked up from his crouched position near the ‘weapon’, frowning at the splattered floor. “Why raise the blade back up? Tsumugi might have missed it if it was down, but anyone can spot it from the door while it’s raised,”.

“Maybe the killer likes to show off! The can’t proudly mock us for missing vital clues if there aren’t any to find, you know,”

“Or all this is just a distraction,” Maki’s harsh tone practically kicked Tsumugi’s enthusiasm out of the room.

The ringing chime felt a little too on the nose, following that remark.

“Already? I’m still pretty lost about what happened…” Keebo glanced at the room one last time, hoping he hadn’t missed something obvious in the room. He hadn't even had time to check what Miu had been up to since they split up.

“It’ll have to wait for the trial, but I think I have a few ideas. Everyone working together should help find the truth of all this,” the detective sounded more confident than he looked, but his steady strides out to the trial grounds did help raise his own confidence a bit.

Of course they could find the truth when they weren’t all scattered around the school. It may not be pleasant to do a trial, but he should believe in his friends. Of course they could do it, they had to, there was no other choice. Even if the truth wasn’t pleasant to know. Shuichi would find it. He’d done so twice now, after all.  
Though he’d rather not have a fourth time after this...

\------------------------------------------------------------------

Robot Avoids Protagonist, is Left Out Of Loop, more at eleven.  
Hopefully it makes enough sense to be interesting, though we are missing quite a few details.  
Though that is why we have a trial, I suppose.   
It's probably too short but better too few than too many words? >> idk.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Class Trial Time

Gathering before the trial was terrible. Standing and waiting in a room that seemed bright and clean, as if that would make the truth ‘easy’, while the absurd statue ruined the atmosphere. Did they know enough? Without knowing the culprit himself, he couldn’t logically determine if they actually did have everything they needed to determine who had killed. He could only do his best, and hope as a team they could determine the truth.  
He always tried to tell himself he trusted his friends, that they were friends. Moments like these though, they reminded him that perhaps he didn’t quite trust them. He would assume the best of them, work alongside them, but could he do things like Kaito did, just blindly assert that someone is innocent based on a feeling?  
No, for that would be illogical. Feelings were not facts. It was something Kokichi always seemed to want to remind the others, as well. Odd, to agree with him on this.  
Not that he’d admit it. Kokichi managed to be less popular than he was with his attitude, and he didn’t want to give anyone another reason to single him out as the weird one. Just pretend you trust everyone. He could do that.  
Seeing Miu looking irritated helped pull him away from his thoughts, somewhat surprised that a confirmation that she wasn’t dead let him stop tensing his shoulders. Of course she wasn’t dead, there would have been an announcement. Yet part of him had still worried, on some level. Though another thought wouldn’t leave him alone either. She’d been the only one he hadn’t seen during the investigation, hadn’t heard from her since they found the weapon.  
She could be the culprit. Any of them could be, logically. This last meetup before they entered the elevator was going to be the last time one of his friends could ever be called that. He should have talked to people more, worked harder and not let the weirdness of Rantaro distract him from keeping the peace. Then perhaps there would have been no death, no trial to carry out.

“You sure I didn’t knock something loose? Wake up!”

“Gah! Sorry!” He snapped out of this thoughts, finally noticing Miu had been addressing him in increasingly louder statements. For around a minute. He managed to completely ignore something tripping both visual and audio sensors for that long? Maybe he needed more RAM for multitasking. Or more likely needed to spend less of it thinking about things that weren’t that important. “I was just distracted. I do not like this room.”

“No shit you were distracted. Who cares about the fucking room when we have to deal with another idiot who killed someone?” Her wide eyes and lack of forward leaning posture made him assume she didn’t feel as confident as she was sounding, but it was best to keep that to himself.

“You’re right, of course. I assure you I am perfectly fine, and will stay focused on what is important.”

She lifted an eyebrow at that, but didn’t seem to be in the mood to argue with him. “Whatever. Do ya know what the fuck is up with psycho cult leader?”

“Oh. Do you mean Angie? Other than the fact she seems to be back to normal and has no memory of when Rantaro was around, no. “ Miu sometimes made it difficult for him to know who she was referring to, but he was a little proud that he seemed to be getting the hang of it now.

“Fan-fucking-tastic. We get a useless god-spewer right before a trial.”

“You’d know all about useless huh Miu? Even metal and brainless over here helped more than you!” Kokichi had practically skipped into the room, snickering as Miu made a lunge for him. “Careful there, you don’t want to make more corpses!”

“Ignoring your false brainless comment, it would be better if you did not rile people up. The trials are difficult enough without unneeded infighting,” he scowled at the troublemaker, to no effect.

“Aw, but if it’s not fun enough who knows what might happen! Boredom is dangerous!”

“Only because of your scrawny ass!” Miu seethed, but didn’t give chase as he darted off to harass someone else. “That fucking little prick is five years old.”

“I have been attempting to not encourage him, but it is difficult. He’s very skilled at finding weak points to jab at,” he shrugged as the room fell silent as the path to the elevator opened. The last ride for one of them, or all but one of them.  
It just didn’t feel right to speak again until the trial was underway.

He didn’t like how the act of everyone finding their podiums and Monokuma’s speal about what a class trial was was almost starting to feel routine. Some of the words he said were different, the Monokubs chattered about something different, but the first few lines were identical. As if it was some sort of sick tradition for the bear who delighted in this killing game. Surely this wasn’t something this...thing did often?

“Atua has said he will forgive who did this terrible crime if they confess. Such a kind and forgiving god! You should really take up the offer, murderer!”

“Cut the god crap, no one fucking cares! Fucker isn’t going to confess to chopping off someone's HEAD”.

“Oh? They might! After all, they will die when we find out who they are anyway, and not have Atua’s forgiveness,” Angie gave a little shrug, twisting a paintbrush between her fingers “They won’t get Angie’s forgiveness after all!”

“Ah. Well. How about we go over what we do know, to start with. Tenko was found in the Ultimate Art Lab by Rantaro, Kaito and Gonta this afternoon”. Shuichi seemed alarmed by Angie’s comment, eyes darting back to her as he spoke.

Keebo frowned, deciding this was worth clarifying. “Isn’t that a little strange? With Angie gone at that time, there weren't many logical reasons to go up there today.”

“I guess? I was only up there ‘cause Rantaro said he needed my help with something, but you can’t really ask him…”

“Gonta was also asked for help! Gonta happy to help, Rantaro said he would explain once we got there”.

“Well obviousssssly our missing person wanted to make sure the body discovery announcement went off! Why else would he get two people, huh?”

“No, I don't think that’s it. If he just needed two people he could have just had Himiko and you come along. He went out of his way to track down Gonta and Kaito,”. The detective tried to look the leader in the eyes, but the purple haired pest seemed more interested in the ceiling.

“Kaito wasn’t resting in his room like he should have been, either,” Maki’s glare made Kaito flinch, ducking behind his podium slightly.

“Can we go back a bit? If this ends up being important, should we be keeping track of when groups were split up and formed?” He didn’t like admitting he was lost, but it was important they were all on the same page.

“Well the detective was probably getting to that before you interrupted him, ya know”

“You went along with it too!”

“Shut up.” Maki’s eyes somehow managed to be more threatening than her voice.

“You’ll make sure the assassin has to cut through you before getting to me right, Kee-boy?”

“D-don’t include me in this!”

“Do you want to die? Shut it.”

Kaito had to elbow Shuichi before he realized the ‘shutting up’ didn’t apply to him. “Okay, based on everyone’s testimonies the time leading up to the body discovery went like this. Korekiyo, Tenko and Himiko left first to set up a seance, and Rantaro and Kokichi followed them soon after. Kaito also left around this time to go back to the dorms.”

Keebo nodded, that matched so far. “Which left Tsumugi, Gonta, Shuichi, Maki, Miu and myself in the dining hall, until Miu and I went to check how the seance was going, So we can both confirm everyone was still alive during and shortly after the seance.”

“Even though some fucking waste of air had a weapon up there! That’s when we split, I wasn’t leaving some fucking weapon where any shithead could get it,”

“I went back to my lab at that time to research some new methods, as I was under the impression something had gone wrong. Though it seems it was only because we were calling someone who was not dead, and in fact we had all performed it admirably,” Kiyo spoke easily, almost sounding disinterested.

“Nah it totally just failed. Think our singing scared all the spirits away. But that’s when we ditched headless and Himiko”.

“Don’t say things like that!” Himiko was holding the top of her podium, boosting herself higher as she yelled at Kokichi.

“Wooooow, you’re shameless. We all know you didn’t give a fuck about her, go back to only looking at Angie, she’s back now! You should be happy!” If he was anything but amused by Himiko’s energy, he wasn’t showing it.

“Why would I be happy that she’s dead you monster!”

“Oh? I thought it was obvious?” Kokichi spread his arms as if going to make some grand announcement. “You knew that a death would break the necronomicon’s effect, so you lured Tenko to your lab and chopped her head off!”

“Wh-what? No! I’d never! I wouldn’t hurt her! Even for Angie!” She’s dropped back to the ground with the accusation, lips quivering.

“There was blood found in Himiko’s lab…” Kiyo murmured, as if considering it.

“I’m not sure, there was some blood on the ground, but enough blood for a decapitation?” Keebo considered it, but something was telling him it didn’t seem like the answer.

“Of course it’s wrong! Can’t you see her? She wouldn’t do that to Tenko, I had to keep her away from the body, remember?” Kaito seemed riled up by the suggestion, all tiredness from before wiped away in his passionate defense.

“How could you trick someone into putting your head under a guillotine though? Tsumuigi didn’t sound convinced, but was still eying the magician.

“That’s the fucking easy part! All little miss bitch witch has to do is say she wants to practice magic and there you go! Boom, instant victim!” Miu clapped for emphasis, scowling at Himiko.

Shuichi shook his head before speaking. “No, that’s wrong. I checked the guillotine myself. Only the blade was bloodstained. If the culprit was tricked into just ‘using’ it, there should have been blood in and around the hole for the neck.”

“Oh darn, I thought we had it all wrapped up. Guess not!” Kokichi remained unbothered, arms behind his head as he leaned on air.

Himiko’s face as almost as red as her hair as she shouted. “You’re the worst! I’ll charm a goose into following you for a week!”

“You’d give me a partner in crime? Wow, being free of Tenko’s unwanted affection has really put you in a good mood huh?”

“Himiko, Tenko is safe with Atua and will not let the killer get away. Do not let him get what he wants by listening to his lies”. Angie spoke so confidently it was almost as if she already knew who the killer was.

Himiko still looked like she wanted to scream at Kokichi, but bowed her head and let the tears that had been gathering fall instead of responding.

“You’re way out of line Kokichi! Cut it out and stick to things we have evidence for, quit screwing around!” The podium edge gave a slight squeak from how tightly the astronaut was gripping it.

“But I totally did think the guillotine killed her! I’m allowed to be wrong Kaito, not everyone can be perfect. That’s a lie, obviously, I’m perfect.”

“So did the guillotine get used in this crime, or was it just a distraction?” Tsumugi cut in.

Shuichi shot the Cosplayer a grateful look. “I think the culprit set it up as a red herring. It’s important, but not as the murder weapon.”

“Gonta not like to think about it, what else could be murder weapon?”

“I have a few ideas, but we didn’t finish clarifying where everyone was before the murder, so we’ll get back to that first”.

Had Kokichi intentionally derailed their conversation to just show the guillotine wasn’t the murder weapon? Why hadn’t he just waited until they were finished? It was probably important, he was confusing but usually plotting something…

“Ohhh righhht. Sooooooooo sorry! Rantaro ditched me to go find the robot so I went to the casino. Then Tenko died. Oh well.”

“I was tired after the seance...so Tenko walked me to the dorms and left. She said she was going to her lab though, she wanted to work out some weird feelings from the seance…”

“So did Kaito hear you come back to the dorms?” Keebo asked, wondering if that could narrow the timing down.

“I might have heard some doors close? I wasn’t really listening for it or anything. I didn’t see Tenko when I went outside.”

“Did anyone see Tenko alone after she left the dorms?”

The conversation hung on Maki’s question.

“I guess that means only the killer would have seen her, then. Alright sidekick, what do we have for alibis?”

“Kaito, we can’t really establish alibi’s for anyone yet. We don’t know where or when Tenko died,” Keebo interjected, hoping he hadn’t cut the detective off.

“Welllll we do know some people won’t have an alibi no matter when she died!”

“...That includes you.” He knew the glare wouldn’t do anything, but it felt better than ignoring his antics.

“Yup! Only Shuichi, Tsumugi, Maki and Gonta are totally innocent! Well, unless Maki slipped away and those three didn’t notice,”

“Gonta knows she didn’t, was helping Gonta and Shuichi find good food for bug friends,”.

“While I made a snack. Though with the situation we plainly didn’t get to eat it…”

“Who fukkin cares? She died in the Art lab, didn’t she?” Miu threw her hands up, rolling her eyes.

“Gonta noticed it was very clean for Tenko to have died there.” Gonta looked unsure, arms crossed as he looked down.

“That you did! That’s why you helped check the effigies, remember? The one of Kaede had what looked like a wiped off patch of blood. How fortunate you were there to notice!” The large man’s smile returned with Angie’s prodding.

“So they managed to keep everything else relatively clean in the Art Lab but not finish the job? Why bother making it look like she died in the Magician’s lab then?” Keebo mused.

“To make us waste time like this, fukkin pay attention!”

“It might still be important. After all, the killer did have time to hide the murder weapon, so well that we actually didn’t have time to locate it,” Shuichi looked grim, trying to cover most of his face with his hand.

“Whatddamean? The fucking axe wrapped in the bloody cloth was the fucking murder weapon, obviously!”

Miu had found something like that? That just seemed like an unpleasant thing to come across.

“So that’s where my cloth got off to, I suppose I’ll need to replace it with another now. Being covered in the blood of a victim would make it unsuitable for any future rituals...”

“Ohhh right...you found that in the washing machine in the Maid lab, right Miu?” Tsumugi asked

“Yeah? I fukkin told you and Pooichi that! They even hid the cleaning section of the room, but I wanted to take one of those vacuums apart later…”

“No, I do think the axe decapitated her. But it wasn’t what killed Tenko.” Shuichi interrupted before the inventor could get off topic.

“I was under the impression humans could not live without their heads?”

“Watch out, the robot’s figuring out our weak points!”

“It’s an honest question!”

“Tenko was already dead when she was decapitated.” Maki silenced them with a glare, crossing her arms. “Whoever killed her stabbed her in the back. She died instantly.”

“Which the Monokuma file didn’t mention, beyond that she died instantly. I think the killer wanted us to overlook the stab wound to hide what really happened.” Shuichi added, struggling to look confident. “They could have used that cloth to move her body and then decapitate her at the scene.”

“That’s my sidekick! Well, sidekicks! Way to figure out the killer’s trick”.

“We do not actually know where Tenko was stabbed then, correct? Or even how they managed to stab her…” Keebo winced a little at the ‘what the hell man’ look Kaito gave him.

“Well it had to be someone who she trusted! Otherwise WHAM she’d flip you in a second! So I guess it’s the creepy cult’s fault, since you insiiiiist it wasn’t Himiko,” the sickeningly sweet fake smile the leader gave Himiko almost felt like a threat.

“It’s also possible the killer got the drop on her. It was hard to read from the blood, but Tenko had a note on her asking to meet up. It’s too stained to know exactly where that was, though.”

“But knowing it was a stabbing, wouldn’t that mean it could have been almost anywhere?” Angie seemed puzzled.

“It could, but they went to so much trouble to make the axe look like the murder weapon. I think that means it must have been somewhere where using an axe would almost be impossible.” A murmur of approval ran through the class. It seemed sensible...and better than the nothing they had before.

“So we’re looking for small rooms.” Maki prompted.

“Now whereeeee could we possibly find small rooms you can’t swing an axe in?”

“Oh, Gonta thinks three rooms on fourth floor not safe to use axe in. Too dark, and floorboards creak.”

Miu stared at Gonta, sneering. “What? Don’t be fuckin stupid. You can’t sneak up on someone in a room with one door and nowhere to hide!”

“Ohhhh. Gonta sorry., try not to be stupid!”

“No, Gonta, ignore bitchtits! The killer didn’t need to hide if Tenko trusted the killer, riiiiight?”

“B-bitchtits?”

“Oh, like a sudden betrayal after a meeting of allies! Then you get a fresh new antagonist...” Tsumugi seemed to agree with the idea.

“It wasn’t me! Stop suggesting that!” Himiko didn’t rise up this time, instead seeming to crumple at the repeated accusation.

“Awww, feeling guilty now? I didn’t even say it was you! But considering she didn’t like Angie, Rantaro’s guy and Tsumugi and Gonta have an airtight alibi I guess that brings it right down to you and Kee-boy, doesn’t it?”

How Kokichi managed to make smiles look like proclamations of war, he did not have the slightest idea. “W-what? That’s a ridiculous observation! Neither of us could use that axe, for starters.”

“Kokichi does have a point. If the axe is a set up as Shuichi suggested, having it be a weapon the killer couldn’t feasibly use on a living target would make it an even better camouflage. Impressive, the lengths one will go to lead others astray.” Kiyo seemed curious now, watching the two of them closely.

“Well then Keebo did it! I’d never hurt Tenko!”

“H-hey! Don’t just go along with his premise like that!” he could hardly believe she was easily just going along with the idea that it had to be one of them now, even after he’d argued it shouldn’t be either of them.

“So when Rantaro found Keebo in the warehouse, he messed up his plan to replace the cloth?” Angie asked, flicking the end of her paintbrush.

“And we can’t find the murder weapon because it’s in his arm! Like a tiny Transformer!”

“I don’t have a dangerous function like that! I didn’t leave the warehouse at all after splitting up with Miu.” he objected, but the lack of agreement was concerning.

“Yeah Keebo doesn’t have any neat shit like a knife in his arm.” Miu scoffed ”Don’t worry, I was very thorough in that department” Keebo could feel his face redden, but kept his mouth shut. At least someone believed him.

“Well regardless of Miu wanting to fuck literally anything, he can still just carry a knife.”

“You little!”

“So Keebo lured Tenko to the seance room, waited for her to turn and leave and then stabbed her in cold blood. How dreadful, to lose someone so heartlessly”. The way he nodded made it seem like Kiyo had already decided this was the correct line of thinking.

“If I killed Tenko, which I did not, why would I have told you Rantaro saw me in the warehouse if he ‘caught’ me?”

“Well he isn’t here to say he saw you with a white sheet, so you saw an opportunity to have an alibi to reduce suspicion.” Kiyo said it so easily that he didn’t even have time to think of another rebuttal.

He really, really didn’t like how the idea he had done something like this seemed like it could make sense. Someone was leading everyone in the wrong direction and he didn’t know how to convince them they were on the wrong track.

“Why did you kill Tenko! She was nice to you!”

“I told you, I didn’t! I wouldn’t hurt any of you, I’m not like that!” He shouldn’t shout at Himiko, she was just upset, but that didn’t mean she could blame him either.

“Oh Himiko, he was just doing his job! After all, Tenko was a traitor and didn’t really believe in Atua”. Kokichi’s grin was cruel, not like the lighthearted ones he usually sported. “I know you saw that she brought Shuichi and Maki up there at nighttime , right?”

“Well, yeah, but Angie forgave her, she was just worried. And right too with the whole Rantaro thing…” it seemed like all her energy had gone, barely mumbling the response.

“Well Keebo was being creepy again and saw that too!”

“What, bringing food to people is creepy now?” Did he have to make everything he did sound bad? Was it fun for Kokichi?

“Wait, how did Kokichi know about that meeting anyway? It was nighttime, wasn’t it?” Tsumugi tilted her head, puzzlement evident in her eyes.

“Well your dumb rules aren’t enforced sooooo I ignored them. Naughty me.”

“That’s right, I did see you! But you vanished…” he froze, pieces clicking into place. “There is a way to hide in at least two of those rooms!”

“There is?” Gonta looked up, apparently more wounded by being considered ‘stupid’ than he’d originally let on.

“Yes, and Kokichi is the one who showed me! You found a way to hide under the floor!”

“I did, didn’t I? Must have slipped my mind…” his casual stance showed zero remorse for dragging them around when he knew very well there was a way to hide in there.

“Can you really hide under the floor? The gaps aren’t huge, but if you can see someone is down there, it isn’t much of a hiding spot.”

“It’s too dark to see under there. Even if you bring more light in, I couldn’t see Kokichi even though I could hear him just fine.” It was fine that Angie was doubting him, this was a trial. He didn’t like it. Yet it was reasonable. So why did it hurt?  
“Kokichi, did you find something under there?” Shuichi seemed older with how serious he looked, apparently tired of Kokichi’s games.

“Did I? You’re the detective, you’re meant to solve the mystery, not me!”

“Cut the crap! Our lives are at stake here!” Kaito looked like he was getting ready for another go, but stopped as Shuichi spoke out.

“You found the weapon down there, didn’t you?”

“Maaaaaybe!”

“Kokichi should tell everyone, be nice instead of mean.” Gonta scolded.

“But Gonta!, don’t you have a gentleman’s duty to protect me from being ganged up on?”

“Only if you say sorry first! Very rude to Himiko.”

“That’s all? Sure! Sorry Himiko! I totally knew it was the trash can who did it but accused you anyway. So sorry.”

“I didn’t-”

“Oh but you do recognize this, right Kee-boy?” His objection died as Kokichi produced a bloodstained sickle from under his shirt. “Now which people found this first, again?”

“The fuck? That thing is in my lab! How do you have it?!” Miu stared at the weapon, glancing from it to Keebo’s frozen baffled expression.

“I found it under the floor! God, are you even listening? Or is your personal crappy sex soundtrack drowning out reality?”

“Miu, did you tell anyone about finding that weapon before hiding it?” Angie asked, somehow still looking perfectly calm.

“‘Course not! Who’d fucking just announce ‘oh look free weapon, come kill someone with it!’”

“So only you, Keebo and the killer knew about it?”

“The person who hid it in the first place and Rantaro would have known about it too.” Keebo managed to force out, though he probably still sounded confused. How had it gotten under the floor? Miu couldn’t have done it, right? She seemed just as confused as he was!

“Too bad for you that Rantaro isn’t here, and the ‘person who hid it’ is a complete mystery.”

“It might not be. Rantaro apparently found it when carrying the cloth for the seance. So it would have to be someone who participated, if they had intended to use it.” The detective had his hand near his chin again, considering something.

“Of course, we only have Keebo’s word that Rantaro was the one who dropped the weapon in that hallway to begin with.” Angie said with a hum.

“Knew we couldn’t trust a robot…” Himiko was glaring at him now.

He couldn’t bring himself to look at any of them right now. He’d rather see nothing. How could they honestly think he’d do this? Couldn’t they hear he was telling the truth? “I have not lied a single time. Everything I have said is what I saw and heard. Nothing else.” He didn’t bother trying to let his feelings through this time, as either the others thought they were fake, or he was making the wrong impression. Might as well remain monotone, if that was the case.

“Um. Gonta thinks might have seen that once before? Not bloody! But looks familiar?”

“Then fuckin spit out where then! How are you going to be a gentleman if you make every woman wait all the fuckin time?”

“Sorry! Gonta trying! But think it was in a room with lots of books!”

“Fuck, making it sound like a big deal but that’s your load? It’s almost embarrassing!”

“Actually, now that you mention it Gonta, I think I know what you mean.” Shuichi leaned forward “But what you saw had two blades, right?”

“Yes! Like a set! Looked nice when clean…thought was decoration”

“A decoration you saw in the Ultimate Anthropologist’s lab, right?” the detective continued, seemingly on to something.

“Of COURSE the fuckin gimp freak had weapons in his lab! Probably used to sacrifice babies or something creepy like that”.

“They were a symbol of prosperity. I was unaware the blades could come apart. I apologize for not being aware such a dangerous tool was within easy reach for anyone to get to.” Kiyo gave a long sigh. “I will have to go over the other artifacts after the trial for any other unwanted surprises.”

“Oh good! It would be bad if Courechouse was just lying around in there too”. Tsumugi spoke up, seeming just for the sake of it.

“Atua isn’t sure why it matters where the weapon came from, but is willing to listen. Though you will owe a sacrifice if this is pointless.”

“It’s important because now you know there are two of those weapons. Therefore using the logic that I am the only one aware of the weapon so I must be the killer is no longer a convincing argument.” Keebo crossed his arms, still not looking at them.

“Nah, you’re still someone who she’d trust to get close enough to stab her! You had plenty of time to go get the other one.”

Shuichi stood a bit straighter, apparently having decided whatever track he was thinking down was reasonable enough to present. “If Keebo is trusted by Tenko, why would he need to give her a note to get her to come somewhere? He would just be able to walk up and ask. I think, in light of the knowledge there is a way to hide in those rooms it makes it not being someone she trusts more likely.”

“Hmm, so we’d be back to having many suspects again?” Angie didn’t look thrilled by the idea.

“No. The killer would need to know where the weapon was and also know about the floor trick to make this plan work. If I’m right, the person who lost the first weapon already had a plan that used the floor trick and had to improvise.”

“We get it, you’re a detective! Stop being a dick and say who did it!”

“More importantly, the killer had to know how the trick worked in order to hide the weapon,”

“...I still don’t know how he got down there.” Keebo admitted.

“Yup! You sounded so curious about what I found but couldn’t even figure it out. I guess that’s what happens when your mind takes floppy disks.” This mockery seemed...almost comforting after all the rest.

“I can’t take floppy disks! I have much more computing power than that!”

“There’s only a few people who would have a reason to even approach those rooms. So the person who stabbed Tenko…” Shuichi ignored their bickering, pushing to his conclusion.

If Rantaro had guessed correctly, there really only was one person who could have done it.  
His first instinct was to be disgusted with Kokichi that he’d wasted so much time coming to this conclusion. Yet...had Kokichi insisted on not telling him how he’d gotten under the floor to prove he couldn’t have been the killer? That fact was at complete odds at his dogged attack in the trial. It was almost as confusing as how the killer could stay so calm through all of this.

“Korekiyo, care to explain the actual reason you wanted to perform a seance?”

* * *

Trials. Hard. Well more I couldn't decide if things were too long or too short, who was talking too much ectectect. Opinions would be good since MORE WILL COME.   
I kept meaning to shove in a 'lie' for Shuichi to tell but honestly just taking Keebo's testimony that Rantaro found the sickle was close enough to one that I just let it at that >> (For a detective he's kinda overly trusting!)  
yes the real only thing that changed is Angie Didn't Die and sometimes Is Rantaro because I am creatively bankrupt rip. Though that's more because I kind of like the chapter three setup? eh.  
Also Shuichi seems way more confident when you aren't hearing all his inner bits. Keebo is super impressed. Well he'd be more impressed if he wasn't ticked off. :p

Hope it was enjoyable. Trial will continue...nextime


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intermission over, let's bag a culprit.

“I believe I was clear in what we were attempting to accomplish with the seance. Perhaps in the chaos you forgot?” Korekiyo adjusted his hat, keeping a grip on the brim as he continued “Himiko seemed so distressed by Angie’s situation that it would have been cruel to not at least attempt something, even if it proved to be in vain”.

“That’s what everyone thought at first, but it’s strange you went for this particular seance over any other”.

“Well it was the first one to come to mind, and easily accomplished with all the required components located in my lab. Is not spending more time researching truly so suspicious when trying to help a friend?” He still seemed unbothered, giving a slow shake of the head. “It is an interesting sensation to be suspected though, I’ll need to take note of it”

“It wouldn’t be if you’d done it correctly” the detective stood firm, pointing at the anthropologist. “Yet you drew the circle incorrectly in order to use it in a murder plot!”

“An error? Ridiculous, it was exactly as the book showed. Though you never saw it yourself, I can testify that it would have matched to the last line,”

“Ooooh so I just imagined the lines going to the corners!” Kokichi broke in, earning an irritated glare.

“...what I was saying was I compared the image in the book to this one here, and these lines shouldn’t be here.”

“You have a photograph?” He finally looked somewhat flustered, pulling his arms in close. “Perhaps I could have rushed and made such an error…”

“I doubt someone so particular would make such a large and noticeable error.” Keebo said with a frown, almost more curious about how Shuichi had even gotten that photo.

“It’s a good thing Atua told me to have that photo developed! Otherwise I might have picked the wrong camera!”

Angie not only had one camera, but multiple? Why-no. Why did Rantaro have cameras just ready to go? He must have been the one to get them based on the time frame…maybe his talent was paranoia.

“I wasn’t sure if it was going to be helpful at first, but I think I put together the plan that could’ve been carried out.” The detective admitted before locking eyes with the masked student. “So will you explain it, or should I?”

“I am curious what fantasy you have put together from the threads. Such a passion for a complete fabrication is thrilling, even though you’re accusing me with it”.

Shuichi looked a bit disappointed, but pushed forward. “This seance was picked because it set the killer up for an easy but still mysterious death. With the cage they could know exactly where the intended victim would be, and the circle would lead the killer to the place they needed to be.”

“So it leads to where the killer could get under the floor? How devious!” Angie tilted to the side, eyes wide.

“Er. No, not exactly.”

“How would the killer stab anyone through the cage?” Tsumugi interrupted as she adjusted her glasses.

“Let him finish! Then you can ask questions!” 

“They wouldn’t have to. With the cloth the weapon could have been hidden even though it was right in front of everyone.”

“Is that why he insisted on putting on the cloth? It was the lightest thing but I had to carry the cage…” Himiko mumbled.

“Well it is a fascinating hypothesis, but I don’t see how this ‘hidden weapon’ could hurt anyone. The blade is not that long, and if the person in the cage is following the instructions they are ducked safely down.”

“The killer would bring the victim to the weapon, not swing it themselves. After I was told about the trick I checked it out. It’s cut in a particular way,” he pulled out a diagram, pointing to the sketched support beam. “If you stomped on one end…”

“The other side would go up! Like at a playground!”

“Right. Not only that, it was cut this way in all three rooms, likely to confuse the issue or pin the blame on someone else by not being the one to ‘pick’ the room.”

“I’m flattered you think I would go to such lengths. Isn’t this all just mostly one long deduction? Is there any proof that there was any plot at all? Perhaps you killed Tenko and are trying to distract the trial.” he was standing rigidly

“Shuichi has an alibi for that time, so if he is distracting us he would be dying along with us. I think the reasoning is logical enough.”

“Does it matter? I don’t care how he didn’t kill Tenko, I want to know how they DID! Someone has to pay!”

“That was easier. Frustrated that their plan had been ruined by the loss of the weapon, the killer improvised. Thinking Tenko had been the one to dispose of the weapon because she admitted feeling ‘strange’ about the seance they prepared by laying out the sheet, getting another weapon and summoning Tenko back to the room with a note before hiding under the floorboards. As it was too dark to see anything below, she wouldn’t have noticed the killer before they came up from behind and stabbed her. If the killer had been unlucky and she’d turned around or heard them moving the floorboard, we likely would have had a very different outcome.”

“Fuckin creep just killing because he can, Monokuma offer you a new gimp mask or what?”

“I’m not certain why I am the only one who could have possibly done this. Anyone can leave a note and hide if they know you can get under the floor.”

“Not when you consider who could have possibly known all the elements used in this case.”

“The killer would need to have known how to make a ‘decoration’ into a weapon, where it was and that a cloth was readily available to move the body cleanly.” Maki spoke up, giving the detective a moment to catch his breath. “That drops the suspects to people who saw the seance just for the cloth portion.”

Kaito seemed encouraged now that even Maki had decided to voice an opinion. “Right! And well, I don’t think Himiko or Rantaro ever went in that lab, did they?”

“No...Tenko and I only went to the Art lab up there”.

“Angie did leave that room to Tsumugi and I before the switch, I can’t speak for Rantaro but he wasn’t here all that long to have done a thorough investigation.”

“Creepy cult snooping in everyone’s spaces! Guess it’s useful to have brainwashed minions for the rooms you don’t want to spy on yourself!”

“If everyone had simply listened to Atua, we would not be having this trial at all! So everyone should work harder and follow the rules the Student council sets!” Angie rebuffed Kokichi’s comment with a smile.

“That would still mean you have two suspects, or are you believing Kokichi who claims to have ‘found’ the weapon with no further questioning?” The anthropologist looked grave, eyes fixed forward.

“No, I’m not. There’s one other important detail that clears that up. Remember the blood in the Magician’s lab?”

“Gonta does! You said it wasn’t used to kill though?”

“It wasn’t. Yet the killer had the idea to plant evidence there. When they set up their original trap, they needed to get a saw from somewhere.”

“They stole one of my saws?”

“Right. So they had seen the room recently, and remembered the guillotine that could help confuse the ‘axe’ murder weapon issue. Our killer had to be the one who made the ability to get under the floors possible.”

“And since I literally tripped into it, I’m in the clear! Sorry, not sorry.” Kokichi was grinning widely, pulling back his hair to show a nasty gash at his forehead. Why hadn’t he bandaged that?

“Which means you’re the only one who could have committed this crime, Korekiyo. Am I wrong?”

Keebo glanced over at the accused, thinking he was hugging himself rather tightly and shaking. Though that could be either guilt or amusement…

“Why! Why did you kill her! There wasn’t even a reason to you, you, you!” Himiko had found her energy again, but couldn’t find a word to express her disgust.

“Just because one does not see a reason does not mean there is not one, not all people have the same goals and reasons to act, after all,” his voice was quiet, fight having apparently gone out of him after following Shuichi’s logic.

“Is that a confession?” Maki pressed, eyes narrowed.

“If wanting to bring a sibling back from the dead is a crime, then I suppose you could take it as one.”

“Hey! Fuckwit bear! Let’s vote already!”

“Ooooh, kids these days have no respect for their elders! Why in my prime I coulda beat you till you died for that kind of lip!”

“Good thing Monotaro’s too stupid to remember the pain!”

“Eh? Pain? Wazzat?”

“WE. SHOULD. HAVE. NOT. LET. HIM. BACK.”

“Huh, did you hear something Monophanie?”

“Nope!”

“...”

“Alright then you brats, don’t forget to vote! Killing someone for doing something so stupid as not tapping a screen is just borrrring!” Monokuma let out a cackle as the voting screens lit up.

Keebo tapped Korekiyo’s image after a moment of hesitation, not quite willing to do so without his inner voice agreeing that Shuichi had led everyone in the right direction again. He’d been fairly certain, but having his thoughts backed up by the voice was just...comforting. They couldn’t both be wrong, surely.  
The awful ‘cheerful’ victory screen declaring Korekiyo as the culprit and thus the right choice made sure he didn’t look at the screen too long. Making finding a murderer into some sort of ‘game’, like any of them wanted the prize of watching the culprit get brutalized by Monokuma.  
Well, Himiko might actually be looking forward to it with how mad she seemed. That was a mildly disturbing thought, that an emotion could make someone delight in the loss of life.

“Well I suppose I’ll be reunited on the other side instead. Bravo, detective.” he almost seemed to be smiling. 

“Atua will have no place for you! But if you beg, he might reconsider!”

“No, he should burn forever for what he did!”

“Well perhaps you’ll see it my way when she’s been dead longer. After all, if someone’s life had unfairly been cut short and you had found a way to let them take your life instead...wouldn’t you at least try?” his hand was resting on his chin, apparently undisturbed by the outburst. “Though I suppose you were barely friends, while she was the only one I could rely on in this world before…”

“What? You’re not even making any sense man…” Kaito was looking ill again, eyes darting around the room.

“Oh? The little trick with Rantaro and Angie showed me that giving a departed soul one’s body was possible” he paused, removing his hat to look at the front. “I should have been the one to die in the first place, so letting her come back was an easy decision. Of course I couldn’t let her stay trapped here, so I had to commit a murder. Alas, my plan was discovered too early.”

“You’re not even sorry?!”

“It was nothing personal. She did not suffer, I assure you. Not like my sister did.” his eyes grew hard, glaring into space.

“Killing everyone here on an ‘if’ is rather...dubious. Even if you had succeeded, you may not have achieved what you set out to do.” Keebo frowned, more confused than anything. Killing so many for one person? It was like Kirumi’s attempt, but she at least was considering two large groups, not a single person.

“Humanity and their bonds can transcend logic at times…”

“Nah don’t explain it, the closest thing to love the waste heap can get to is a heart emoji.”

Not that he wanted to agree with such a remark, but his knowledge in that area was limited. Which was why he’d wanted Korekiyo to explain it, yet it didn’t seem like he would get the time with how Monokuma was shuffling in his seat.

“You shouldn’t have tried this, even if you succeeded, do you think she would want that so many died for her?” Shuichi’s hand was curled into a fist, seeming more upset than angry.

“Hmm. Perhaps. Yet if I had been killed first, then I wouldn’t have even gotten to try.” he gave a shrug, unperturbed by the rest of the class’ glaring.

“Well I know what will spice things up! Another execution! I’ve prepared a verrrry special punishment for the Ultimate Anthropologist!” The bear was grinning, gavel above the bright red button.

He really, really didn’t want to watch. Korekiyo might not have resisted the metal collar that was dragging him off to his death, but the actual execution would just be something fun for Monokuma to do. Wouldn’t it be better if they all just closed their eyes and ignored whatever sick plan the bear had?  
Yet somehow he couldn’t just do that. He had to watch. To see what happened, every detail. For what? To make sure they avenged this cruelty? Couldn’t he do that without watching?  
No. He had to watch someone he’d counted as a friend be trussed up and boiled alive, note the pain and terror in his eyes as the sheer heat engulfed him before he’d even started to burn.  
Part of him hated knowing how his limbs would suffer the most first, that he’d remain conscious and in incredible pain. Yes, he had murdered, but this was just cruelty. Did he really need to watch as his skin peeled and split, fat melting as the stench of cooking human flesh reached him?  
Reasonably no.   
He watched as Kiyo’s skin reddened much like a lobster would as his flesh became more like a blister than anything else, a painful swollen agony of what should have been a human being. It was almost a relief to watch his head get shoved under by the pink bear getting launched into the pot with him. If his brain cooked, he’d die faster instead of prolonging the suffering.  
...That was a terrible thought to have. Not as terrible as Monokuma continuing the mockery with fistfuls of salt as if making a stew, but it was up there. Certainly not something he’d share with anyone else.  
He only managed to tear his eyes away when it was over, shuddering. He’d have to try covering his eyes or something next time, he hated these things. Though his inner voice seemed to think he had to know the extent of Monokuma’s crimes to keep fighting...surely knowing someone was being murdered painfully was enough? Though it did always seem to guide him correctly.  
He’d need to consider it more, when they weren’t all feeling terrible.  
No one really wanted to discuss anything, more concerned with covering their noses to block out the smell.

“If anyone wants some you might be able to convince the kubs to share! Puhuhuhu!”

“You’d let your kids eat that garbage? You’re a bad dad, Monokuma!”

“Well I never said I was a good one!”

Kokichi earned another round of glares for even going along with the bear that far, but the trudge back to the dorms was mostly silent. For a successful trial, they still managed to feel like failures. Angie and Himiko talked for a time, and Kaito was flanked by his sidekicks as usual, though the boisterous energy was long crushed by the trial. How had they lost so many people so quickly?  
They couldn’t lose anymore. He’d have to try harder, they all had to try harder. Maybe Angie had a point about being stricter with the rules...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a bunch of words. I wanted to keep to the trial style instead of rushing ahead but part of me is going 'eh maybe I should have'. It'll be less awkward when I'm not hastily fitting a murder around a pre-established framework, maybe.  
> it's like the only time we see the 'main cast' since keebs is in background character land most of the time  
> Though hopefully the bits near the end are interesting/ keep one motivated to keep reading. Next time I get to just go screaming off what's left of the plot rails after all! (Ok I'm not going that far, new motives are unlikely but the reactions will probably be different considering who's still kicking around!)  
> rest in fragments, creepy incest plotline, you aren't welcome here. don't make a neat character and cram that in there dangnabbit.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial may be over, but there's always new trouble brewing.

The night was painfully long and quiet. It never felt right that everything was ‘normal’ again after a trial. One friend murdered, and another executed while they watched. Surely that was important enough to change things, or leave a mark. The fact it wasn’t, the fact they would all have to do their best to pretend everything was fine again in the morning almost seemed disrespectful. Oh, there would be discomfort, but they’d still move on. It was the only thing to do, trapped in here.  
He couldn’t sit still, wandering back outside to stare at stars he couldn’t recognize. Gonta didn’t know what they were either, and Kaito always seemed too busy to bother with such a question. Just another oddity of this place. Still, it did help explain why no one had rescued them yet, perhaps the class was simply very far from home. It just felt longer than it really was with all the death.  
Keebo had not really intended to walk to the library, just exploring as something to do. Still, the weird suggestion Rantaro had made felt more appealing now. Less the actions of a lunatic, instead possibly a valuable way to get information. ‘Go fling yourself at a door’ wasn’t exactly the most poetic set of words, but they might be the last ones directed at him from the strange body snatcher. It wasn’t like he could attempt the tunnel alone anymore with the rocks in the way, this could be the only accessible exit left.  
The idea still seemed absurd, yet no one was likely to see him try beyond the mastermind. His inner voice wasn’t opposed either, instead it seemed more approving of the idea then even he was. Angering the mastermind might not be wise, but surely one of those bears would warn him first with how they insisted on having rules and being ‘fair’. As if being fair made shoving them all in a murder game any better.  
Three steps looked to be the most effective distance to get enough speed and prevent the bookcase the door hid behind from shutting into his path. Lead with the left shoulder, don’t think too hard on why such a posture feels familiar and brace for the self inflicted impact jolting through his shoulder.  
He’d aimed well enough that the sturdy plating that protected his shoulder took the brunt of it, the sensation only lasted a few moments to make him aware of the hit more than anything else. Really he should have braced more for the noise, an abominable crash of metal on metal that made his head ring. Best to dampen his hearing before doing that again, while being grateful this door was in the basement. Waking everyone up over this wouldn’t be appreciated right after a trial.  
The fifth slam sounded slightly different. He twisted to get a better look at his shoulder, rotating his arm in a few quick circles. Whatever had given a little to muffle the clang had not been his joints then. Though the door wasn’t noticeably different. It might be starting to give, even if this was incredibly inefficient.

“Hey hey! If you guys break my stuff, I’ll break your toy!”

The robot scowled at the bear that had leapt in front of the door. So much for being ignored. “I doubt anyone here would value a toy over possible escape.”

Monokuma simply put his paws to his face, chuckling. “Who said I was talking to anyone here?” His amusement turned to irritation, showing claws. “But seriously, you break it, and I’ll be using your melted down corpse as a replacement. Get me?”

Keebo took a step back with the threat, hands raised. That was not a pleasant mental image. “Your grotesque threat is noted.”

“Good! There’s no extra lives in this game! Except for me, I’m a beary special bear.” The stuffed animal was calm again, casually rocking back and forth. “I can offer a little something though! As a treat!”

“I am not interested in whatever motive you want to set up,” he crossed his arms, but didn’t walk away like he originally planned to. It would be rather early if Monokuma gave a motive now, wouldn’t it? If it was a motive, shouldn’t the menace want everyone to hear it? The so called headmaster kept bopping along to some song only he could hear, watching and waiting. Waiting for what? “...what is it, then.” Keebo muttered, still not sure if his inner voice was on the right track here, even if it made some sense.

“Puhuhu. That was quick! Those night owls are big into secrets! Or it’s the ones overseas!”

“I was already aware you spout nonsensical phrases.”

“Do I?” He giggled again “The little cult leader will switch with dead head when tapped from behind on the shoulder! Isn’t that a fun little fact?”

He really shouldn’t have expected anything useful from Monokuma. “Then they would have switched plenty of times, Himiko gets Angie’s attention that way.”

“I might have left out a detail, but it’s trueeee! I’m a very honest bear, you know.” Monokuma’s claws extended suddenly, red eye bright. “Unlike some people I can’t name.” It was almost a growl, which made it all the stranger. What was he so angry about to drop the carefree shtick? 

“You can’t name? Don’t you work for the mastermind? Surely you can be nasty about anything you want to be.” He asked, hoping whatever mood that had gripped the bear might make him more talkative than he should be. It worked on the Monokubs in trials, after all.

“Oh you know. There’s some rules you can’t break! You can barely take two steps without approval and I can’t rat out that cheater! Oh the humanity! Bearmanity? AImanity? Eh I don’t give a shit anymore.” Monokuma waved the question away, face set in a glare again. “Now scram!”

Running away from a stuffed bear that could barely reach your knee sounded pathetic, but Keebo wasn’t in the mood to find out what would happen if he didn’t get out of there. It was easier to be irritated at the comments when safely away from the bloodthirsty stuffed animal. He wasn’t that desperate for the class’ approval! Usually. It was more words he questioned than moving, at the very least.  
If Monokuma wasn’t lying about how the ‘switch’ between Angie and Rantaro could be triggered, what could be the condition he’d failed to mention? The possibilities could be near limitless. It couldn’t be ‘is Himiko’, ‘has red hair’, ‘or identifies as female’. Though that was only assuming there was only one other condition and not multiple ones. It could be a duration thing, a pressure threshold, a specific hand?  
He’d have to see them switch again to even start isolating this. Hopefully he was simply overthinking this and the answer would be obvious if he observed it. If he could observe it. It could just never happen again, that was a possibility as well.  
He had to distract himself with something else before he got into a frustrated circle.  
Tenko’s lab wasn’t a great choice if he wanted to be in a more positive frame of mind, but it did distract fairly well. She’d been so excited when it had opened up, wanting to show all the girls the Neo-Aikido she loved so much, but had not gotten a chance to do so. So much equipment, so much space that would likely not be used at all now. Tenko might have taught him, considering he wasn’t a boy either. Maybe he should have asked and shown more interest. No, she’d been focused on what was important to her, and that had mostly been Himiko and her wellbeing. He glanced at the edge of the hanging platforms warily. It would be quite a drop if someone slipped and fell off there. Not overly dangerous, by the look of the padding, but it wouldn’t be fun. Perhaps there was a reason for all the suspended platforms, a move or an exercise that needed them, but Tenko couldn’t elaborate on it now.  
Why did he only notice all the small things about people after they were already dead? When it was too late? Maybe he was getting better at picking out conversation topics people would appreciate with practice. Or he just hadn’t been trying hard enough. Guilt was always an odd emotion. Did it mean he knew he hadn’t tried hard enough? Or would the feeling occur even if he knew he’d reached out as much as he’d been able to his friend? More questions no one could answer. The robot paused to take another look around the research lab before heading back to the dorms, determined to spend the rest of the night trying to figure out how to relate better with each surviving classmate. He just had to try harder, that was all. It would get easier.

His question on if the Student Council was back with Angie’s return was answered very quickly come the morning, spotting the group of students gathered near the slightly raised bench. Tsumugi noticed his exit from the dorms first, waving him over with a small smile.

“Well that just leaves Gonta! I hope he’s not off looking for bugs again” Tsumugi spoke when he approached, adjusting her glasses as she looked over to the courtyard.

“Atua knows he will show up soon. Then we will make sure no one kills again!” Angie’s endless optimism seemed unmarred even though their group was now permanently a person short.

“You have a new plan already?” Should she have a plan so soon? Or say that so confidently?

“Atua’s plan hasn’t changed!” her smile was bright as she tilted back and forth. “He forgives you for letting someone die in my absence as long as you all do better! You can’t hear him as well as I can after all!”

It was a good thing Angie was so cheerful, as that remark cast a sour pallor over the rest of the group. Keebo was tempted to point out she was gone because of insisting on the ritual, but Himiko’s apologetic nodding made him keep his mouth shut. She didn’t really like him as it was, no need to antagonize the mourning magician further.

“So...are you going to take any item ‘prizes’ they give us to not use them?” Tsumugi asked.

“We’re meant to stay here...course we’ll use 'em…you need to try harder to hear Atua.” Himiko muttered, gripping at the edge of her hat. “Tenko died because we didn’t do enough…”

“It’s okay Himiko! Tenko doesn’t blame you. Atua is looking after her now. They’ll both be happy to see you trying so hard.”

Angie could say painful things very easily, he was starting to realize. That was the sort of remark Ryoma would have told him ‘it wasn’t the time for that’. Yet Angie should know better than he did.

“Gonta is sure Gonta saw little bug friends. Still too fast to catch,” Gonta was talking to himself as he approached the little group, shoulders somewhat hunched. “Why they no want to be Gonta’s friends?”

“Miu could invent something to help you catch the bugs so you could ask them?”

“There aren’t any bugs, are you sure you’re seeing little bugs Gonta? No one else has seen any outside your lab.” Tsumugi shot down the robot’s suggestion while adjusting her glasses.

“Gonta is pretty sure they have to be bugs…very small.” He holds his fingers nearly together, as if trying to show how small the mysterious things are.

“Okay! Atua is expecting you all to follow His plan! I will keep you updated on his divine wisdom.” Angie set off towards the dining hall, apparently not interested in Gonta’s small apparently bug issues. The group followed without so much as a word.  
Perhaps the others did have a small fraction of a point calling it a cult...but she only wanted to help everyone, and it seemed to have been working? Sort of? Being united towards a goal was still statistically better than everyone trying and failing to do their own thing.  
That didn’t stop the group breakfast from feeling awkward. So few of them left made the split more obvious than ever. Maki, Shuichi, Kaito, Miu and Kokichi on one side, the rest on the other. Though they weren’t really a side, Miu and Kokichi drove everyone away. Kaito did try to motivate everyone, but it was easy to see who his favourites were. After all, they were his ‘sidekicks’. They needed to fix this somehow so they could stop going along with this killing game. Not that he could actually think of a way to stop Monokuma from making that ‘kill or I’ll kill all of you’ motive again. Just don’t think about that right now. Just stay positive. His inner voice always managed to see the good side of things, even if he couldn’t see it.

A mostly quiet breakfast was interrupted when Angie stood to speak up. 

“I-HAVE-BROUGHT-GIFTS.” The green monokub appeared, red sibling in tow. “YOU-WILL-USE-THEM-TO-BECOME-BETTER-FRIENDS”

“I don’t remember what they open!” Monotaro shoved the items forward, refusing to stop until Kaito took the blue stone and paintbrush from them.

“Where’s your stupidass dad, bitchbears?” Miu asked, glaring at the remaining siblings.

“HIS-VACATION-HAS-BEEN-EXTENDED”

“So I have the motive! Isn’t it shiny?”

Angie moved quickly, snatching the key card away from the ninja themed bear.

“Hey! I was gonna do that!” Kokichi whined, making a grab for the card that was quickly blocked by Gonta.

“Better if Kokichi doesn’t have motive. No mean tricks that way. Gonta remembers last trick.”

“Awwww, gentlemen shouldn’t bully little guys!”

“Atua already told Gonta he is a wonderful gentleman by keeping the peace” Angie said with a nod. “Shuichi should join the student council, then he can go find what rooms these items open.”

“Uh, I’m okay not joining.” Shuichi looked towards the items Kaito held, already puzzling over what they might do.

“Okay! I will accompany you then.”

“Well, sure, if you want to do that…”

“Anyone not in the student council needs to be accompanied by someone that is. That will prevent any further attempts to escape with murder.” Angie’s grin was at odds with everyone else’s reaction.

“Oh fuck that, psycho bitch! I do what I want, when I want!” Miu stood, hands slamming on the table.

“Yeah, you can’t just start treating everyone like criminals! We gotta believe in each other to beat this game.” Kaito was just as quickly upright, hands clenched.

“Oh? So Tenko was killed because you didn’t trust Korekiyo enough?” Angie leaned forward, a dark cast to her face “Or maybe if you won’t take the light of Atua, Atua needs to use the stick?”

“You think you can threaten me?” Maki asked, eyes narrowed.

“It’s not a threat, just explaining how things are going to be now.” She remained unphased, returning Maki’s glare with a smile.

“Angie’s right, you guys can’t be trusted. If you weren’t gonna do anything you wouldn’t care to have a friend along.” Himiko glared across the table, arms crossed. “My magic will pick up ill intent!”

“Uh oh, the cult’s gone mad with power! Can we do the overthrowing them plan now?”

“Gonta, can you escort Kokichi to his room? He cares more about causing trouble than living peacefully with everyone.”

“Gonta can...seems a little mean though.” The entomologist looked conflicted.

“Uh oh. Save me with a logical deduction Shuichi!” The purple haired pest darted behind the detective.

“W-what? Wait, we shouldn’t be locking anyone up!” Shuichi looked frazzled, still half distracted by his previous thoughts. “He’d manage to find a way out anyway.”

“He’s right you know, so no point sending the ape after me! Gah!” Kokichi ducked away from Gonta’s grab, sprinting out the door, yelling “You’ll never catch me alive!” as he went. Gonta gave everyone an apologetic smile before running off after him.

“Fuck you and your cult! You only have one big dick dimwit and you’re outnumbered!” Miu spat at the remaining student council before stalking off, ignoring Tsumugi’s weak plea to stay and listen.

“Go keep an eye on Miu please Keebo. Atua thinks that’s the best choice.”

“She’s pretty mad…” he hesitated for a moment. Was this really for everyone’s benefit? It just seemed to make everyone argumentative so far. “I’ll try and get her to calm down.” He glanced at the rest of the group, hoping it didn’t become a disaster before running after Miu. She would go right to her lab, if he’d learned anything about her.

Spite inventing was a thing, if Miu was to be believed. Her goggles were on as she poured over some half assembled mess on the table, muttering and swearing to herself.

“Are you okay?” It wasn’t a very useful question, but it seemed popular among humans to ask it.

“Dono, have you renounced the fucking bitch god yet?” She didn’t bother turning, but emphasized her words with a waving middle finger. “You’re a robot for fucks sake! God is for virgin looney toons!”

“Well it isn’t like the idea of hearing another voice is unheard of.” He shuffled uncomfortably, deciding distance was probably safer here.

“Yeah, if you have a fucking mental problem! Short stack and board breasts need their meds, not this shit.” She grumbled, bringing her hand back down as she continued to work. “Though if they use some of my inventions that’ll get em to fuckin loosen up!”

“...I would advise against suggesting them.” he spoke quickly, not wanting Miu to explain exactly how her invention would ‘help’. “I just supposed her Atua was like my inner voice.”

“Your conscious? Did you name it?”

“No, the voice isn’t me. I know that.” He rested a hand on his chin, frowning at the look the inventor was giving him. “What?”

“You shouldn’t hear some random voice, that sounds like a glitch.”

“I’ve always had it!” He protested, irked at the suggestion that something was broken. He was fine, he needed that voice to make the best choices.

Her frown didn’t leave her face when she turned and went back to her invention. “Whatever.”

“I think Shuichi might come by soon, that blue rock looked like it could fit in a platform near here.” The robot tried to change the topic, but the return of the middle finger stopped any further attempts at conversation.

Shuichi did turn up, Angie following along and chattering about ‘the good of the group’. Did she leave Tsumugi all alone with Maki and Kaito? Not that they’d do anything, of course, but he doubted the cosplayer could stop either of them if they decided to do something. The detective seemed tense, trying to look focused on walking instead of paying attention to the unwanted hanger on.

“Maybe that rock will open up a fuckin cannon we can launch Atua’s bitch into the sky with,” Miu said as a way of greeting.

“Miu! You should not kid about things like that!”

“Shaddup Keebo I’m talkin to blue and unbrainwashed.”

“Ah well I don’t think any labs should have a cannon in them...though we haven’t found Kokichi’s yet, I guess.” he gave a weak laugh, glancing at Angie uncomfortably.

“I’d actually thank the little shit if he did have one!”

“As long as everyone follows the rules, you can say whatever you want Miu” Angie smiled “You don’t want anyone else to die, right? Right!”

“C-course I fuckin don’t.” Miu wilted, looking away. “Just fuckin use the item and piss off.”

Shuichi took a moment examining the odd little stone protrusion “There wasn’t a marking on the red stone, but this one has the school’s logo on it. It’s a little weird.” he muttered, shrugging before placing the stone in the gap.

Keebo wasn’t sure if the building coming from nowhere was louder than Miu or not, as her apparent excitement and word choice was incredibly distracting for just watching her lab get an extension of some sort.

“That’s new.” the detective seemed a little puzzled, but shook it off to go explore the new area.

The inside in a word, was terrible. Nothing but overdone flashy screens, bright lights and overly complicated schematics. There were areas that he could possibly explain as being a robotics lab, but the gaudy sci-fi atmosphere made those bits uninteresting. At least Miu seemed to be having a good time looking at everything, it was part of her lab after all.

“I guess it makes sense to attach the two labs.” Shuichi looked somewhat alarmed as Miu found something that looked suspiciously like some sort of fancy sci fi gun, but relaxed when noticing the lack of a hand grip to fire it with.

“Two? Isn’t this just an add on to the ultimate inventor lab?”

Apparently he’d said something weird again, because the detective was frowning at him. “Well. Can’t you tell what this place is?”

“Evidently not.” The way Shuichi’s eyes darted away from his face did give him an unwanted suspicion though.

“I’m pretty sure it’s your research lab.”

“Oh.” he glanced at the room again, confirming that yes, he still did not like it at all. “Monokuma intends to mock me with all this sci-fi stuff, I expect.”

“Lighten up! There’s some amazing shit in here!” Miu had apparently forgotten she was angry with the robot as she explored the lab, excitedly poking around some assembled parts. “This stuff would look good on you. And be fucking useful!”

“N-no thanks.” he took a half step away, not really liking the implication that he needed upgrades. “I’m fine as I am.”

“Oh come onnnn! There’s little upgrades we could try out!” Miu closed the gap, ignoring the fact he’d made that gap intentionally.

“I do not like even being in here.” 

“You can trust this golden brain! It’ll be so smooth you’ll be begging me to throw you across the table and open you up again!”

Now that implication he understood, face heating in an instant. “Miu, can you not...put it like that”. Angie’s laugh certainly was making it worse. “I do not trust these things, it is not your ability I am doubting.” he managed to mutter through his collar.

Surprisingly Miu seemed thrown off by his response, blinking repeatedly. “W-well of course you don’t doubt me! I’m a genius!” Was she blushing? “Don’t be such a stick in the mud, live a little!”

She was going to keep insisting if he didn’t put her off this whole ‘use these weird sci-fi upgrades’ thing. His inner voice seemed quiet right now instead of decisive, but he pressed forward with the idea anyway. “Your inventions are more interesting than these things anyway.”

She was blushing after all. From such simple praise? It wasn’t even that special, her inventions were interesting and an incredible showcase of her abilities. Even if a large amount of them were of...very focused use.

“Well I guess the upgrades I already did are good enough…but we should still try some later!” she toyed with her hair before grabbing a few items and heading back to her own lab.

He’d take the reprieve. She’d likely get distracted and hopefully forget about the whole idea eventually. Though with the labs literally attached to one another that was a bit of a foolish hope.

“You can keep looking after Miu for now, but be careful!” he flinched a bit at Angie’s voice, almost forgetting she was there. “Atua says she knows all your weaknesses. Byeanora!” she swept away after Shuichi with that mild threat, the skip in her step at odds with his own discomfort.

“Well if you’re happy to be at her beck and call, you might as well be my bitch too! Get over here and help me with this shit.” Miu’s annoyance was back, though not as strong as before.

“Ah right, sure. I’m coming!” He took one last glance out of the windows of his own lab before heading down the stairs to Miu’s. The view was the only good thing about that place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohboi chapter four time. Which also means I get to do all the setup/mystery throwing around I want to since we snapped off of the canon track completely by now with Angie still here to be Angie. and no bear incest plot. (i don't think anyone misses that one tho)  
> Hopefully it is entertaining/interesting. I'd love to hear any theories/things that are liked |D Persona 5 Royal may make my update speed a bit slow for awhile though, apologies >>  
> Yet I love every comment and thank you for any of them! (and if you don't want me to reply to your comment just say so because I like to thank people by default heh >>)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A robot continues to be very dense.  
> There's a forth floor to explore now, after all.

“No, not that! Dono what that shit’ll do to ya but you probably wouldn’t like it”

The robot froze from Miu’s shout, glad he hadn’t touched whatever the pink hammer looking thing on the bench was meant to be. “You did say the right bench, didn’t you?”

“Your other right!”

He could probably argue that he had picked the correct one based on her instruction, as she was referring to her right and not his, and he was the one actually facing the scattered work benches. It was easier to just take the loss on that though. “ Anything else I should be concerned about in here? What is it for?”

She gave a dismissive wave with a screwdriver, no longer concerned “Nah. It’s some stupid thing to knock out machines, haven’t figured out how to make it have enough battery to take out anything useful yet. Plugged in like that though? Probably fry you pretty fuckin good”

He took another step back. That was going on the list of ‘things to stay incredibly far away from’. He really wanted to ask why she would build such a thing, but didn’t want to offend her either. After all, such a thing would not be dangerous to anyone else in the class, and she had warned him before any harm could befall him. “Thank you for the warning. I’ll make sure to stay away from it then.”

“It’s meant to just disable, but the last thing I want is it fucking up the most decent loser here” she was muttering, almost more to herself than anything. Perhaps she didn’t mean to say the last part out loud, considering how she seemed to jump a little when Keebo placed the flat white squares she’d sent him off to grab next to her. “Sooner I get this stupid shit done, sooner I can get back to the computer.”

He couldn’t figure out what the squares had to do with the remote she was screwing shut, but could at least assume they worked in tandem having a similar look. “Why is the computer more interesting than your own inventions?”

She snorted. “MY inventions are amazing. This is commission shit. No artistry. Nothing special.” Miu flicked the controls on the little white box experimentally a few times before shrugging. “It’ll work. Probably. I’m not stupid enough to fuckin test it.” the inventor dropped it in a box, tossing the squares in after it.

Who would have asked Miu to make something? No one ever seemed to take her skills seriously, even if the modified cameras and drones had helped unmask Kaede’s guilt. The fact the box was labeled ‘cock-itch’s shit’ did not illuminate anything. “Maybe, but you still built it. The computer is just another one of Monokuma’s things.”

“It’s a really advanced computer Keebs!” the excitement in her voice annoyed him, for some reason. “It has a lot of processing power to use, and even the ability interface with the human brain! It’s the kinky sex dungeon of computers.” She paused for a moment, as if the tangent reminded her of something. “Bet it’s managed to split that card open like a three cent whore by now.”

He was _not_ jealous of a computer. He was simply very confused by what Miu was saying, too confused to want to know what she meant. “If you say so. I do not really see the point of it.”

Her eye roll was still obvious under the goggles. “Well I can’t see why the fuck cult-bitch has you by the balls either, what’s the point of that? Other than making us all want to fucking kill her?”

“It is meant to stop the killing by not being desperate to leave, that was explained.” he felt his shoulders tense, unsure which part in particular he was feeling defensive about.

“Fuck that. Just abandon our lives because some sexless ‘god’ says to?”

“I-I’m sure if we found a reasonable method to escape with, we would take it”

“Uh no? Haven’t you LISTENED to your little cult leader? She just wants to be in charge and is using you stupid virgins to make sure she is!” her anger was almost palpable, making him feel odd and jumpy, like she might do something rash.

“She’s just being a leader so we’re all on the same page! Doing things separately has not worked out for us so far, we should at least try-”

Miu cut him off, pulling her goggles up to better glare at the robot. “News flash, expecting everyone to obey you because of ‘god’s guidance’ is for insane people!” She was pointing with the screwdriver, a little closer to his face than he was really comfortable with. “Are you just gonna be all ‘oh it’s for everyone’ when she tells you to kill someone? Huh?”

“I wouldn’t kill anyone!” That objection came easily, repulsed that Miu would think he would ever do such a thing.

“Oh yeah? When bitchbear gets bored and demands a death, what are you gonna do about it?”

...That sort of thing was why Angie had bothered using the motive at all and caused the whole Rantaro problem. It was a legitimate concern. “I...don’t know. I do not think anyone does, we just have to hope that does not happen.”

“You like logic, right? So fucking follow me on this one.” She still looked incredibly frustrated, but her shoulders had relaxed somewhat when he admitted he didn’t know any sort of future plan. “Someone has to die, and someone needs to do the killing. She can’t get any of us beautiful sane people to fucking do that, so she sics one of the brainwashed idiots on a ‘troublemaker’.”

“The whole point is to stop the needless deaths Miu, that goes completely against-”

“Shut it! Fucking let me finish! If you had to pick right now, right this fucking second if it was better if two people died or EVERYONE did, what would be better?”

He looked down, uncomfortable with the question. “Well...it would be better if fewer people died, but none would be preferable.”

“Right. Two fucking dead people seems better. So when that bitch walks up and tells the killer-to-be they’ll be keeping everyone else safe, they’ll fucking do it! YOU would fucking do it!”

“No I would not!” a bit of anger helped push away the discomfort, but the accusation felt worse this time. If it was the only way to keep everyone else alive, would he do such a terrible thing?

“Of course you fucking would, don’t be a fucking idiot. You always want to help and of course she’d pick the non human to die first. Since you don’t have a soul or whatever religious bullshit she’s using on you fuckwits.”

Something in him felt like it was twisting as she went on. Her words were logical, it wasn’t a completely baseless accusation. Yet the very idea, the very thought that he would do something so terrible, even for a ‘good reason’ was a heavy and uncomfortable one. The extra jab that it was obvious because he was not a human, not like them was sharper, hot and painful.  
He already knew he wasn’t quite like the rest, it would be impossible not to. Yet having someone he considered a closer friend implying his life was worth less still...hurt more, for some reason.  
“All of that is conjecture, and illogical to dwell on in our current situation. Creating problems where there are none is not helpful.”

“Fucking knew you wouldn’t fucking listen, why do I try with you virgin jackasses” she threw up her hands, muttering harshly as she turned away. “Fuck off then! Go be a creepy stalker somewhere else!”

“Well I was asked-”

“You have free fucking will don’t you? Prove it. Use it to PISS OFF.”

He winced at the shout, the venom in her words obvious even for him. Somehow he had managed to really upset her by not going along with her ‘future is scary’ talk. It wasn’t like she was going to do anything or hurt anyone...Angie might not be thrilled, but it wasn’t as if Miu was hard to find.  
“I’m sorry. For upsetting you.” Even if he wasn’t exactly sure why she’d turned from friendly to furious so quickly, it would be easier to apologize for it.  
He took the lack of response as a repeated dismissal, leaving the lab without another look back.

Tsumugi might need help. The problem with that idea was the dining hall was empty. Perhaps the three of them were exploring what new areas Shuichi had unlocked? Or Kaito was back in bed, even though he insisted he was fine. The robot was pretty sure humans did not sweat and cough so much when they were healthy, but Kaito wouldn’t lie about that, right?  
The monopad did show another floor had opened up, so he set off to take a look. The new rooms might open up new options for passing the time, or risks he had to be aware of.

Judging by the way Tsumugi seemed absorbed in gathering clothing and fiddling with a camera pointed at some sort of wooden stage, she had no complaints about her research lab. The cosplayer only looked up when he spoke. “Did you lose track of Kaito and Maki?”

He could swear she seemed to freeze for a moment before her usual cheery demeanor replaced it. “Huh? Oh no!” she shook her head. “Maki went to join up with Shuichi, and Kaito followed. So Angie should be there, and I really wanted to check out my lab.”

Well at least one of them liked their talent lab. He couldn’t blame her for staying behind if she wanted to check it out. “Is Kaito actually feeling better? He says he is, but I feel as if he does not look like a healthy person right now.”

“Hmm? Oh you know Kaito, he’s got to be a big hero.” she gave the smallest of shrugs as she continued, thumbing through piles of fabric. “I’m sure he’s fine though! No one’s plain dumb enough to hide that they’re dying, right?”

“I suppose hiding that would be irrational, yes.” his nod was stiff, uncertain. Yet Tsumugi would know better than he would. He couldn’t even get sick like humans could. The sweat was likely just stress, this whole situation certainly qualified as stressful. Yet something still felt off, like a static shock waiting under his fingers.  
“Did Angie say anything about that motive card? She can’t just smash it like a flashback light.”

The cosplayer pouted at his question “Nope. It’s like a big mystery right now. Maybe it’ll show we all grew up together and forgot!”

Keebo simply stared, wondering if he had heard correctly or not. Perhaps that had been one of those ‘reference’ things she made. It was hard to tell with Tsumugi sometimes, with how much passion she seemed to have for the things she was referencing. “Well if it is a motive, not interacting with it is the wisest action. I am only worried as it seems like an easy object to steal.”

“Maybe! I am just plain curious what it’s meant to open though, aren’t you?”

“Not really, no.” He only managed to mask the frown by leaning his chin on his metal hand. No need to be rude when she was simply curious. “I am sure no matter what it is, it cannot be good for us.” That bear was devious after all. Even a ‘positive’ motive was really just a disaster waiting to happen with Angie and Rantaro flip flopping into the driver’s seat.

“Really keeping dedicated to staying here forever huh?” Tsumugi looked upwards, as if looking for an answer written on the ceiling. “Atua will like that, mhmhm.”

Why did she have to remind him of that part? Not ever seeing the professor again was a thought that made his chest ache. “It is a better option than watching any more of my friends die.” He spoke the words more as a reminder to himself, joints in his fingers wanting to clench shut into fists, despite his intentions to look neutral.

“Oops, sorry. I plain killed the mood there.” She clapped her hands together, standing straighter suddenly. “Instead we should be talking cosplay! That’s what this room is for after all!”

Telling Tsumugi he had zero interest in dressing up as fictional things would probably be rude. Yet he didn’t really wish to hear how impossible it would be for him to look ‘more human’ to pull off a fictional person properly. Tact was incredibly difficult, he was learning. “It is a very big lab, is it meant to resemble something?”

“It’s like a convention center! I think.” she glanced around again. “Though without a bunch of people it just looks like a really big room. You can’t really see the fun of it with so few people around.”

“So like twenty or thirty people?”

“Much more than that Keebo!” The giggle prompted him to look down, feeling foolish. He thought sixteen people was a lot, thirty would be too many, surely! “Sometimes I forget you never really got out much.”

“...Thank you?” Was that complement to his knowledge or an insult about his upbringing?

“Hmmm. I was already thinking of cute costumes Maki could wear, but she just plain glared at me. I even thought of good characters too.” Tsumugi seemed a little put out, adjusting a manikin with no outfit displayed. “Maybe she had a bad con or something?”

“Do assassins normally attend such events? It does not seem like something she would do.” A large crowded event for fun did not really fit his mental image of Maki. Though he never imagined her being an assassin either, in all fairness.

“Oh, I guess not, huh.” She gave a bit of a shrug before returning to the fabrics. “I totally thought of characters for everyone, but haven’t gotten anyone to agree yet. Maybe after everything calms down, it could be an activity for everyone!”

“So long as it goes better than the magic show, Angie might be interested.”

She rolled her eyes, hands on her hips as she leaned forward. “You aren’t really great at catching conversation threads, are you.”

“I am trying!” he sputtered, desperately trying to figure out what ‘obvious’ thing he must have missed. “It is more difficult than it seems, everyone speaks differently and expects different reactions!”

“You could have at least pretended to care about all my plans, since we’re friends.”

“I did not know that is what you wanted me to do!” So that’s why she had brought up ‘thinking up costumes.’ Was it rude to not indulge her and ask about that? Or was it rude of her to expect him to be interested? “I have no problem listening if you want to talk about it…”

The cosplayer sighed, shaking her head. “We’ll you’re plainly not interested, I even had an idea that wasn’t a robot you know.”

“Really?”

She grinned at his obvious surprise, adjusting her glasses. “What kind of ultimate cosplayer would I be if I went with something obvious?”

“True. I might not recognize it, most of the ones you have spoken of I have never heard of.” his eyes narrowed. Wasn’t that strange? He actually quite enjoyed anime, when they weren’t robophobic. Maybe he’d been neglecting to talk to his fellow student council members enough.

“Oh this one’s fairly popular! I figured with your hair and need to be mostly covered up anyway you could make a pretty good Allen. Could even leave one of the lines on your face alone. Have a lot in common too, being outwardly polite is your default anyway!” she was happy to chatter away while the robot attempted to guess who she meant with just half of a name. “It could be fun!”

“...isn’t that the one where the villain tricks people into making souls into helpless killing machines?” his shoulders tensed, discomfort obvious with his gritted teeth.

“They akumas, yeah! See, I don’t only know the obscure mangas.”

“It is robophobic to make robots that only exist to serve someone unwillingly while in immense agony. Or demote beings with a sense of self to ‘machines’ as they insist on calling them.”

Tsumugi gave him a look. “They’re the villains, Keebo. Lighten up.”

“There aren’t any heroic instances! They’re all ‘evil’ and in pain!” he crossed his arms, not willing to back down so easily on something he was confident about. “That does not even touch the fact they all exist to be used like tools, to murder people. It is incredibly robophobic, even if you cannot see it.”

“I still think it’s a good fit with the backstory.” she muttered. “You really need to work on that persecution complex, akumas aren’t robots like you anyway.”

How could he respond to that with anything beyond the strangled “Grk” he’d made? Honesty about his feelings and dislike of human media portrayals was brushed aside so easily, that it almost felt like a waste to even try. It didn’t impact them, so they just did not care.  
At least she had dropped the topic, moving on to other parts of her lab she wanted to show off before he finally thought it had been long enough to excuse himself.  
After all, he still had that other room he’d spotted to check out, and to catch back up with how everyone else was doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look it's a mostly fluff chapter. Though some important things are mentioned, not that keebo notices.  
> Hopefully it was enjoyable/amusing. The references Tsumugi makes are fairly cheeky, but I prrrobably spent too long with the Allen Walker bit, but it was fun to think of a reason why she is more 'rude' about Keebo's robot problem in chapter four (considering she joins in on the roasting in canon). Clearly he just didn't like her cosplay idea enough.  
> Anyway, always adore comments and if you want to yell at me on the tumblr I'm at datawyrms. Feel free to say how Allen is totally not a good fit/is a good fit / anything DR related because clearly I love Never Shutting Up.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angie makes a move

For such a grand staircase, there really wasn’t much to actually see up on the newest floor. Tsumugi’s lab took up the bulk of it. The Ultimate Detective lab was the only other thing to see, and Shuichi seemed to not think much of his lab either, considering no one was in it.  
The fact there were a bunch of poisons easy accessible was worrisome. He couldn’t be harmed by such things, of course, but everyone else could be. Maybe someone should be keeping track of them so that they would know at once if one was missing. At least there seemed to be antidotes for the poisons as well. Not that they should need to use any of them. No one was going to fall for Monokuma’s ploys. Everything would work out this time. It had to be.  
The file stuffed cabinet was the only other thing of real interest. It wasn’t pleasant to see so many murder cases all in one place, but it felt important to at least check them out. There could be clues inside, they could relate to how they all ended up here.  
They didn’t seem very related though. Just sickening. It was probably just the bear trying to mock them all with the reminder that plenty of humans died every day, as if that made their lives worth less or something.  
He shouldn’t be wasting time in empty rooms. Everyone on the council should be gathering for dinner and the following meeting soon, and if Angie had her way, everyone else should be there as well. Angie probably wouldn’t find out he left Miu alone, she wasn’t one to hurry away from something she was working on. Certainly not if told to do so.  
Yet she wasn’t in her lab when he went to go insist she have a proper meal. This was fine. She had mentioned the computer, the inventor was simply wasting time with that boring over-sized box. That, or she’d been handing her inventions off to whoever had asked for them, as the oddly marked box was gone.  
He’d been incorrect. Miu had gone to the dining hall of her own accord. In fact, he was the last to arrive other than Gonta and Kokichi as he’d spent so long checking all the usual places. Pairing that with the fact Angie had only given him a disapproving look before starting to speak, she didn’t expect the missing two to show up.

“Atua has created this school as a paradise safe from the outside. Wanting to leave is only a cruel trap. The sooner all accept His great wisdom, the sooner we can all live in peace!” She spoke easily, a genuine warmth in her tone that was impossible to ignore. Calling the school a paradise seemed to go a bit far, the Professor wasn’t here, but if it helped keep everyone alive, he’d go along.

“I’ve got shit to do outside, so you can cram your god up your ass!” Miu’s irritation seemed to be shared with the remaining non members. He really should have tried harder to not upset her earlier. She kept pointedly looking away when he tried to catch her eye.

“We can’t fulfill our promise if we give up on ever getting out of here. We shouldn’t fight each other, but giving up isn’t the solution.” Shuichi said with a shake of his head.

“If you were a follower of Atua, you would know it was the only solution. I have seen it.” she remained unruffled, still smiling despite the outbursts.

“Yeah. Tenko wants everyone to live, so that means staying here. You’re just not listening.” Himiko seemed slightly more lively than usual, hands curled into fists.

“That’s just stupid. Anywhere is better than being stuck in some sick murder game.” Maki’s glower didn’t even frighten Himiko this time.

“Not out there! It’s more Nocturne than Persona...I would have prefered the dancing spin off…” Tsumugi babbled, doing a decent job confusing everyone into silence.

“Not so. Atua is willing to show anyone why we must stay here under his divine will.”

“What, we get a vision if we agree to be in your shitty little cult? Fucking count me out!”

“You will see the wisdom in it if you truly see, Miu. I will show you all in the projection room tonight. Well. Not Kokichi, he’s still under Gonta’s watchful eye for now.”

“Wait, you’re just going to play a video or something?” Kaito frowned.

“Well for those of you who cannot accept Atua into your hearts, that is the best I can do.” Angie shrugged, pulling a camera out of her pockets. “It’s actually a slide show. I have captured the truth of the world outside through my brush and taken pictures of them for you all to see.”

“Why not have us just see the paintings?” the detective looked baffled by the extra step.

“They are too much to bear in person for those not protected by Atua’s love.”

Miu was back on her feet to glare down at her opposition. “More fuckin bullshit. When are you letting the crappy little shit stain out of his room, anyway?”

Himiko scowled. “When he stops lying and trying to stir things up!”

“So never.” Maki said what everyone was thinking, an uneasy silence falling over the room.

“Atua is sure he will mend his ways with enough time and positive correction.” her smile had an edge to it as she stepped towards the exit. “Follow me everyone!”

Shuichi. Maki and Kaito didn’t look thrilled at the prospect, sharing a look before getting up to follow the charismatic little artist. Tsumugi shocked everyone by grabbing Miu by the hand, dragging her along with some babbling of the most important person plainly had to accompany them all. The redness on the inventor's face marked her as more flustered than actively compliant, but Keebo couldn’t argue that it hadn’t worked.  
He didn’t really like seeing Tsumugi take advantage or that though. It simply wasn’t very nice.

Angie didn’t waste any time in closing the door and asking him to stand in front of it so no one could leave until the show was finished before skipping over to the projector to plug the camera in. Strange that she found a digital camera, he’d only spotted the film kind in the warehouse.

The images were enough to make one’s stomach turn. Horrid red skies, shattered buildings and lifeless streets marred every image, the perfect example of a world in absolute ruin. Not every painting showed scattered human remains, but enough did to make a heavy weight sit on his chest. Angie had honestly seen all of this?  
He stepped backwards into the door at the fifth image, as if hoping backing away from it would make it stop being projected on the screen. The ruin wasn’t as horrifying now, considering each image showed at least some of it, but he recognized this fallen building. He recognized the buildings directly beside it, the sad empty spot that should have a young healthy tree that he was sometimes allowed to go under because of the shade. It didn’t matter that the sign was damaged and only half visible, he knew exactly what it was.  
His home. The place he was created, the place he would have fought to go back to.  
Destroyed and untended.  
He could only settle for letting the light behind his eyes snap off, desperately wishing he had a way to express this horrible crushing emotion. Angie couldn’t possibly know what Idabashi Industries looked like, despite the fact he called it his ‘high school’ it didn't really look like a typical one. He wanted to break down and cry so some of this sadness could leave him, but he’d never be able to now. Not if this was out there.  
No wonder Angie was working so hard for them all if she knew this was what awaited them all. It had been wrong of him to doubt her. She’d been protecting them, being kind and sweet and gentle until her hand had been forced.

“Really impressive tampon head. You painted spooky pictures.” Miu did not seem impressed.

“That is the world outside. Atua hopes you will all realize it is true and take comfort in the safe place He has provided for us.”

“Hey, Keebo, you okay?” Kaito was shaking him, his eyes snapping back on from the shock.

“Ye-er” he stumbled over his words, not wanting to think right now. “No-uh. I’ll be fine.”

“What kind of wishy-washy answer is that man?” Kaito insisted, voice louder than the robot really liked.

“Oh for fucks sake, that shit isn’t real! Get a fucking grip!”

He was blocking the door, wasn’t he. No wonder he was annoying them by ignoring the world. “They’re real. I just need some time to process this information. I will be fine. Later.” his voice was low, almost completely covered up by Miu’s dismissive snort.

“What makes you think she didn’t just make these up?” Maki seemed willing to back Kaito up more often lately, which would normally make him glad that his friends were getting along, but he’d really rather they all just be quiet right now.

“Cus Angie’s brainwashed all her idiot cultists! Duh!”

“He is right though. Atua only sent Angie the truth. We can see it cus we believe in Atua.” Himiko’s addition wasn’t very helpful. Had one of those images been a place that was important to her too? How was she managing to keep steady right now, if it was?

“We saw them early, in person. We could just feel the truth, plain as day.”

Tsumugi was just making them sound less believable. Making them understand escape was bad was too important to mess around, even if he didn’t want to say what he’d noticed. “I recognize one of the buildings.”

“It could just be a similar-”

“It is exact. I would not mistake it for anything.” anger crept into his voice, frustrated that this was their reality, that they couldn’t just see how upset he was about it.

“Fucking prove it then!”

He could do that, couldn’t he? Thanks to Miu, even. He printed off the picture of what had been his home, holding it out to Shuichi image side down. He didn’t want to see how it should be, how he remembered it right now. It hurt too much.

The lack of response from the others made it clear his point on how real it was reached them. His inner voice was trying to motivate him to make sure the others would be alright, but Angie would be better suited to that anyway. He’d help more with a clear head, that wasn’t mourning someone he didn’t even know had died until this moment.

So the obnoxious little voice that came as he made his way to his room was not appreciated. It was muffled, stuck behind the door Gonta was still guarding.

“Heeeey. I got a question!”

He was probably very bored, trapped inside with only Gonta to occasionally talk to. He wasn’t really all that motivated to answer him though.

“Don’t be mean Kokichi. Only Gonta keeping you in room.”

“I woooon’t! It’s just a question!”

“What is it.” he said, knowing he’d likely regret it in seconds.

“How do you forget yur a robot? Shouldn’t that be pretty hard? It’s like all you are!”

The familiar prick of annoyance was almost a comfort, even if the question was baffling. “I am perfectly aware that I’m a robot Kokichi, even if I go a day without your robophobic remarks.”

“Not now dummy! When we all forgot our ultimate talents! Howda forget you were some mechanical monstrosity?”

“Kokichi said would not be mean!” Gonta chided, only earning a laugh from the captive.

“I...don’t know.” Keebo admitted, brow furrowing. He couldn’t possibly forget his talent. He could forget being given the title, but not anything beyond that. He couldn’t just stop being what he was.

“Weird! Guess your memory’s as garbage quality as the rest of ya!”

He tried to ignore the laugh the pest made when he couldn’t help but let out an irritated grunt at the insult, pushing into his own room.  
It really didn’t make any sense. Did that really matter now though, if the world was gone?  
He needed time to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :v whoops my updates are super slow now between Persona and Dannymay. I am still working on everything! Hopefully this is entertaining, though on the short side...


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making breakfast is totally a good coping method.

Really, spending time alone wasn’t the best idea, but he needed to be alone in this moment. Everything he knew was gone, just like that? How could he forget something so terrible? It didn’t make sense, he shouldn’t forget things. Yet those flashback lights proved something must have happened with his memory banks, since everything seemed to fit properly once he ‘recalled’ it. Whatever had messed up all the date records for his memories must have been more serious than originally thought. Yet something still felt off. Would he really have convinced many people he wasn’t a robot for any length of time? Everyone kept pointing out his shortcomings. It was weird, now that he thought about it. Or he was just trying to avoid thinking about what he was meant to do to help now. Everyone had to follow Angie’s plan and stay here, there was nothing to go back to.  
The sensation that thought brought him was deeply unpleasant, like a crushing weight on his shoulders. Though it was the feeling like all his important carefully wound wires and vital parts had been ripped out, leaving him as just the outer shell that bothered him more. Nothing had happened to him, physically. He shouldn’t feel like moving or doing anything was beyond him. Yet even knowing that didn’t make the sensation stop. He just wanted to be still and remember the professor and his home, and shut everything else out.  
That wasn’t productive. That wasn’t even logical. Maybe he should ask Miu if there was a way to turn off emotions like this. Though the professor wouldn’t approve...which only made the ache worse again.  
Frustrating circular thoughts may be humanlike, but he’d rather be more of a machine in this instance. He should be doing something, be helpful or useful, think of a way to help convince the others to stop thinking about getting out of here. Not moping about something he could do nothing about. Yet the pain kept clawing its way to the forefront of his thoughts. What would be a useful thing to do? He could simply print out an image of his home that he remembered and compare it to Angie’s painting if they wanted proof. No, he'd rather not convince people by forcing them to confront there was nothing out there, he personally was not enjoying that fact at all. It would just upset people, and strong emotions could make people act irrationally. More friends getting hurt would go completely against protecting everyone. Though hiding it would be a lie of sorts. Didn't like that. Lying would make him untrustworthy.  
His inner voice was being decidedly unhelpful in this. Of course he wouldn’t give up and abandon his friends, but it wasn’t really helping nudge him towards an actual action. It would be so much easier to just do nothing.   
Humans spent a large chunk of time just resting every day. Surely it wasn’t too wrong of him to just idle for a few hours more than he actually needed to recharge. He could put off charging for another few days, really. He was using it as an excuse. Yet he didn’t really care. Part of him wasn’t too pleased that he was being lazy, but it was ignorable. If his inner voice wanted him to actually do something, it could come up with it first.

The sun was only just rising when the low tone let him know his charging excuse was officially gone. What he should be doing other than looking over memories had not become apparent. No one could really be completely comfortable staying here with Monokuma still lurking around. The only way to deal with that would be figuring out who the mastermind was, if there even was one. Rantaro might have insisted there was, but he couldn’t really see any of his friends being so terrible.  
Not that he’d been able to see any of his friends as able to commit murder either. Perhaps he had a blind spot in that regard. It was frustrating. He should trust all of them, and did. Mostly.  
Himiko being up so early did feel wrong, admittedly. Watching her struggle with a bag of rice for a group breakfast was even stranger. Had Angie told her to do this to smooth over the tension between the two groups?

“Do you need any help?” he asked, frown deepening as she jumped. Surely she heard him coming?

“Neh…” the magician seemed to recover from their fright after setting eyes on the robot, adjusting her oversized hat. “Only if you won’t make it inedible,”

“I understand how food works, even if I do not eat it Himiko,” he chose to focus on the counter to see what she planned to serve with the rice dish. The book lying open near the thawing fish was a good sign at least. Following a recipe was a simple task.

“Better not use motor oil by mistake…” she sighed, as if too tired to argue further than that.

“I would be more concerned as to why motor oil was in a kitchen at all than my misuse of it.” he forced himself to look neutral, though he smarted from the remark. Why would she think he could make such a basic error? Just because he used some for maintenance meant he should always have some around and waste it by misuse? Honestly.

Himiko only shrugged, focusing back on the pot of soup.

He could be more irritated about how dismissive she was being, but she did lose a close friend recently. Just focus on the positive aspects. The magician being willing to make food for everyone was a great thing, considering how tired she always seemed to be. 

“Mmhm. You can tell me when it’s been three minutes, right?”

“To the millisecond.” He didn’t move his eyes, not wanting to burn any of the fish. Messing up the meal would only reinforce the robophobic assumptions she had about him.

“Just three minutes is good” she flicked one of the burner switches and moved out of his peripheral vision. The repeated clunks did make it sound like she was getting dishes. Sensible, the morning announcement would be rather soon.

The thuds were still ongoing when he spoke again. “It’s been three minutes”

“Neyh. Got it.” she stumbled back, moving to remove the soup from the heat. A little too quickly, which had Keebo drop what he was doing to catch the hot pot before it could fall from her grasp. The sensors in his hands were not happy about his choice to do so, but he grit his teeth and put the hot metal down safely.

He glanced back at the magician, who still seemed somewhat startled by the near accident. “If that had been anyone else, we would be worrying about burns. Please be more careful.” His fingers twitched, an irritating reminder that he’d need to be a little more careful himself until the heat dispersed and he could correctly ‘feel’ things again, his sense of touch disabled so that he wouldn’t need to deal with pain.

“Guess robots can be useful for other stuff, huh.” she gave a weak sort of grin before moving to rescue the abandoned fish.

“Of course I can.” Was thank you just not a word in people’s dictionaries? Though the smile was probably the closest thing he was going to get to one.  
The rest of the prep being disaster free was helpful, though it seemed they’d prepped too much rice. Someone would eat it, probably.

“You should go before the others show up,” she was fiddling with her hat again, brow furrowing into a sort of frown. “They won’t want to eat it if a machine made it”

He seriously wondered if the lack of skin on his face made it hard for the humans to tell when he was upset. Did the lack of wrinkling skin throw them off? “...If you say so.”  
It was her idea in the first place. He wouldn’t want to mess that up, even if it was only her word that he would. Leaving was easy enough, and it wasn’t a secret that he sometimes wandered around at all hours with a lack of anything better to do. No one would question why he wasn’t in his room.  
So Himiko made breakfast ‘alone’, as far as everyone else was concerned. Miu, Shuichi, Maki and Kaito still looked a bit on edge, while Tsumuigi, Gonta and Angie were pleased and thanked the quiet girl for her hard work.

“Oh, magic girl wants to drug everyone!”

Really, Kokichi should be the one making breakfast with how much he seemed to love stirring the pot. He wondered how long his freedom would last before Angie sent Gonta after the tiny terror again.

“Hey. You still sulking?”

MIu had apparently finished quickly, or was just poking him with chopsticks for fun. “I am not sulking.”

“Yeah you fuckin are. Stop listening to god’s bitch already, sheeh”

“I know what I saw Miu. Ignoring it will not make it less true.” he crossed his arms, trying to ignore how the ‘outsiders’ looked distinctly uncomfortable about his insistence that what Angie had shown was an absolute truth.

Kaito was muttering something to the others but he couldn’t catch it with Miu’s exasperated groan covering it up.

“Get a grip! You can see the sky from the dome, it’s not red!”

“Miu, the only way to get out of here is murder. It really doesn’t matter if it is not real.”

“Maybe for non geniuses! I’ve got the perfect plan, way better than anything your bullshit god’s got.”

Was Miu going to kill someone? No, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Her plan must be something else. Yet Angie’s rule about keeping an eye on anyone outside the student council was feeling like a better idea. Not that anything would happen, just to be safe. “Do you need help?”

“Keebs I asked you about subclasses and you thought I was talking about substitute teachers.”

The stupid computer again. Though that didn’t seem dangerous. Just mildly irritating. “Again? Didn’t you spend all afternoon up there yesterday?”

“Can’t rush genius!” She pushed away from the table, waving the rest of the group off with a careless ease “Thanks for the grub, magic vanishing rack!”

...That was fairly rude. Himiko’s face was almost as red as her hair, but a wide smile from Angie managed to distract her from yelling something back at the inventor.  
The loss of the inventor just made the divide between the remaining eight more uncomfortably obvious. Well, it was more a group of four, a group of three, and a shifty hanger on.

“You’re not gonna keep insisting on following us around, are you?” Kaito broke the silence, managing to be loud as usual.

“Hmm? We’re just spending time with our friends!” Her smile never wavered “Unless you don’t trust your sidekicks as much as you say you do?

“Of course I do!” The astronaut sat up straighter for a moment before a loud cough ruined his posture. “S’ why no one needs to be followed around! You’re the ones who don’t trust em!”

“Oh I see! So you don’t have any reason to avoid spending time with us!”

“Even when we’re plainly trying to learn to trust an assassin…” Tsumugi added, picking at the edge of her bow while she got up. “I’ll go follow Miu instead”

Maki’s face remained stony as Kaito chose to be insulted enough for the both of them. “You shouldn’t have to learn! Maki roll hasn’t done anything!”

Himiko rubbed at her eyes “Assassins kill people.”

Shuichi grew more flustered as Kaito got to unsteady feet, looking seconds away from shouting.

“Hey, you trying to prove you’re scarier than the cold hearted killer? You can do it, go punch someone in the face! That’s how you make friends, right Kaito?” Kokichi said, letting out a snicker as the astronaut struggled to glare at both him and the group across the table at once.

“No I’m not! I trust my sidekicks and so should you! I take full responsibility for the people I believe in!”

“Which is why we want to spend time together! Atua is glad you understand Kaito.”

The fired up teen faltered at this, sitting back down with an audible thump in the face of Angie’s warm and unperturbed smile. “Yeah. Sure. That’s what I meant.” he muttered, earning another laugh from Kokichi.

“Wooow. At least Gonta knows he’s an idiot!”

“Gonta is more intelligent than you are in many areas.” Keebo snapped back, hating to see how the larger teen seemed to slump at the insult. “He can actually converse with people without resorting to insults, for a start.”

“Ooooh, the machine’s an expert on intelligence now. Miu reinforced that spine when she played with you, huh?” 

He wasn’t embarrassed. He wasn’t. “As you continue to prove my point with juvenile insults.”

“No need to fight! Gonta really not that smart.”

Shuichi and his friends seemed to think edging out of the room while the purple pest was distracted was a good plan, though no one could miss Maki’s glare while Angie and Himiko invited themselves along.  
Great. Babysitting duty with Gonta wasn’t exactly his idea of a good day, but annoying Miu would be worse. Not that there was anything wrong with Gonta, he was a perfectly nice friend who just had some questionable decision making skills. The too-relaxed ‘leader’ was the problem.

“We are not fighting Gonta, you do not need to insult yourself. Kokichi does more than enough of that for everyone.” he insisted, though Gonta did not look all that convinced.

“Nope we’re totally fighting! Hey, Gonta if you pull the robot’s head off he can’t argue anymore.”

“Gonta would never do such thing! Gonta a gentleman!” he looked somewhat flustered, gripping the empty insect box.

“I know you wouldn’t, just ignore him.” Admitting he’d been unsure Gonta would immediately dismiss the idea would probably not be the best option at the moment. “Have you seen any more of those insects you mentioned today?”

“Gonta spots them, but still they run away. Not sure why.” he frowned, looking at his hands. “Usually can catch bug friends, not this one.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a friendly one soon.” Could he help with that? No. He was intentionally average. Yet hadn’t some of the upgrades in that mockery of a lab been for enhancements of senses? To go beyond a human’s limitations? No, he couldn’t go messing around with that stuff. It was wrong. At least his inner voice could remind him that everything there was probably just a trick.  
Yet Miu had mentioned that he might be missing things. No, he was overthinking again. The voice had his best interests in mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any blehness, I just really struggled how I wanted to get everyone in place before Doom Approaches so >> I might fiddle with having a proper evidence list so it's more game like this time buuut idono.   
> Shouldn't take as long for the next one. probably.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Babysitting and new instructions

“-so that why mosquitoes good friends! Even if itchy! Very important little friends. Like most bugs!” Gonta was doing his best impression of the sun as he spoke, either oblivious to Kokichi’s exaggerated slumped over drooling on the table, or genuinely believed the boy when he claimed that drooling made him concentrate better.  
Either way, Keebo was in no hurry to crush his friend’s joy. Even if the insects Gonta was talking about weren’t exactly interesting. Hearing about them was much better than getting swarmed by Gonta’s ‘friends’ at any rate.

“Okay, I am literally going to die of boredom here, for a cult you’re real bad at the whole brainwashing thing. Just saying,”

“Oh no! Gonta would not want friends to die, how Gonta help?”

“He is not going to die from boredom. He is just being rude.” The robot frowned at the troublemaker “Wanting to keep people alive is not a _cult_.”

“Whaaa? A machine can’t recognize a cult? Wow! Shocker! Oh wait no that’s just your nature huh,” the boy’s grin widened as the robot’s shoulders tensed “Even stupid Gonta would notice before you Keeboy!”

“We are not going to leave you alone to go make problems for everyone else. No matter how hurtful you attempt to be.”

“Can do something else though, Gonta doesn’t mind. Kokichi friend, even if tricky sometimes.” He seemed completely unphased by being called stupid, or was too relived that the liar wasn’t actually in any danger.

“Yeah! You all left me and poor Gonta out yesterday, I was so sad that I cried for hours!” he punctuated the lie with a loud hesitating breath “Even remembering it makes me want-” Kokichi cut himself off with his own crocodile tears, leaning into Gonta who looked incredibly flustered by the reaction. “They’re so MEAN!”

“You can say what you want without pretending to cry.” Keebo crossed his arms, hoping his bug loving friend would learn Kokichi was only putting on an act soon. Wasn’t it obvious by now?

The sniffling stopped instantly as the boy leaned back with a smirk. “Oh right, playing to a robot’s emotions is pointless! My bad.”

It was bait, but he couldn’t help the irritated grunt from escaping. The fact he knew the purple haired pest was faking it just proved he could recognize emotions just fine! But that was what the boy wanted, snickering at the reaction.

“Um. Angie showed other friends something, right?”

“Yes. She did do that.” Keebo said, looking away from the two.

“Angie’s lab it is then! I gotta see her new cult brainwashing fun.” Kokichi left no room for discussion, setting off with an easy spring in his step.

He’d really rather not have anyone else see those paintings, they’d been horrible enough as images on a screen. Not that saying so would do anything but egg Kokichi on. With Gonta hot on his trail, the robot really had no better option than to follow along.

“Awww, Monokuma got rid of the headless wax figures. They really spiced up the room!”

Well, they had been part of the murder scene and set up that way by Kiyo, so it only made sense that they were gone. _So why hadn’t_...he was getting distracted. He set himself to looking the room over again, trying to ignore Kokichi’s commentary. Several easels sat near the wall, a mess of paint splattered on the floor nearby. More curious were what looked to be statues or carvings of some sort draped in some sort of drop cloths. It made sense for Angie to be pursuing art in multiple ways, being the Ultimate artist, but why hide the results?

“Oh, careful! Glass on the floor over here.”

“Wow Gonta! You’re such a good protector! It almost makes your stupidity bearable!”

“Gonta glad to protect friends.”

“Glass? Why would that be here?” Keebo frowned, crossing the room to check where Gonta was indicating. There wasn’t much, but enough glass that it could be a concern. The burly student really should wear shoes.  
Wait. He crouched down quickly, scowling at the fragments. The bits of grey there weren’t glass. A second mess to go with the first? He grabbed at the largest fragment after brushing the glass aside, trying to get a better look at the thing.

“Ah! Don’t do that, hands will hurt!”  
Gonta’s intervention was well intentioned, he knew that, but it didn’t make falling flat on his back from the heavy grip on his shoulder less irritating. Still, the worried expression on his face helped the robot from being too terse.

“Gonta, thank you for your concern, but glass like this won’t hurt me.”

“Keeboy’s a bloodless machine! We could stab him all day and he’d be fine. Ooh, maybe we can use a chisel.”

“I would rather you do not do that.” He let out a heavy sigh as he got back to his feet, trying to recall what made the bit of plastic familiar. “The motive card key?”

“Aw, did your leader chop it up? Boooooring.” His tone was light, but the robot could swear that smiling face had a terrifying scowl for a second.

“Good! Motives from Monokuma bad news. Angie smarter than Gonta.” The entomologist seemed to relax now that everyone was ‘safe’.

“I agree with getting rid of the motive, I just wish she might have told us first.” He tapped his fingers at his elbow, unable to smile at the moment. Why not tell everyone it was gone? It would be one less thing to worry about.

Kokichi stared forward, apparently too deep in his own thoughts to throw out yet another snarky comment. If he didn’t know any better he’d assume the ultimate supreme leader was frustrated.

“Looks painted over. Too bad, would have liked to see art”

“Painted over?” He stopped watching the troublemaker to take a better look at the easels. At first glance they had just looked blank, but now that he focused he could see hints of red and black at the edges of the canvas. “That’s...strange.”

“Hey, don’t hold out on us robot, what used to be there?”

Should he tell them? Angie must have had a reason for getting rid of her originals...but had shown it to everyone other than these two. This could be something else entirely, really. Lying was wrong, wasn’t it? He should definitely trust Angie over Kokichi. That’s what his inner voice thought, after all.  
So he gave a shrug. “No idea. Perhaps it is normal for artists to save canvas by painting over things? It seems logical enough.”

“Oh really? I guess I was expecting too much to think a pile of junk could be useful” the boy leered at the robot, daring him to argue back.

“I cannot help with things I know nothing about.” He felt the plates at his shoulders tense, a somewhat disappointing tell of his anger.

Gonta placed himself between his two smaller friends, red eyes wide with concern. “Please no fight! All friends here, okay?.”

“We are merely disagreeing.”

“Oh it’s good you’re here Gonta, there’s no way I could fight off a machine!”

“I haven’t threatened you once, you should not act like I have.”

Gonta continued to look conflicted, eyes flicking between the two. Keebo let out another sigh, dropping his pointing hand. That seemed to placate the gentle giant somewhat, who focused more on Kokichi. “Should be nicer to friends, get in less trouble.”

“But I am nice to my friends! All the people. I’m nice to you, right?” he spoke with the exuberance of a yapping puppy, lying without even a second of hesitation.

He really, really wanted to tell Kokichi off. But Gonta wouldn’t get why he was angry. The robot had to settle for clenching his jaw hard and averting his eyes from the leader’s face. He did not want to see that mocking smirk right now.

“Neyh. So noisy up here…” Himiko’s voice was a welcome distraction, even though unexpected. She stood at the door, rubbing at an eye as she looked at the three of them. “Atua spoke to Angie again.”

“Oh, did Atua say to break up the cult? That’d be great!” Kokichi’s posture completely changed from relaxed to tense, eyes locked on the papers Himiko held in one hand.

“Mhmh don’t be stupid...I’m not talking to you…” she moved past him to hand Gonta one of the papers, a small smile on her face when he gingerly took it.

“Gonta glad to help! Protecting everyone, right?” He beamed back when Himiko gave a nod of agreement, looking over the handwritten note.  
He didn’t seem to notice Kokichi’s attempts to take a look by jumping up and down, but it was clear he wasn’t going to be able to get much doing that.

“They’re very important...Atua says so. Don’t put it off, or I’ll have to curse you. When I’m less tired…” The self proclaimed mage offered the next paper to the waiting robot, before turning to leave with the last one. “‘Mugi’s with Miu, right?”

“She should be?” Keebo took the note, trying to keep the puzzled expression off of his face. Couldn’t she have just said what they wanted done?

“Easier to find than you guys…” she let out a long sigh “Atua says it’s worth the effort…” Watching her shuffle away felt wrong. The magician might be happy that she still had one of her closest friends back, but she’d seemed more energetic when yelling at Rantaro. Where had that motivation gone?

“Oh come on you big lug, let me seeeee! We’re friends right? Friends share!” The light thudding of jumps had grown in speed.  
“Oh! Do you want to join student council too Kokichi? Gonta would be glad to ask for you.”

“Ew. I don’t have time for cults. It’s not like that paper is secret, right Gonta? Gentlemen don’t keep secrets from their besties.” he stopped jumping to instead pull a wide eyed puppy dog face, which Gonta predictably had no defense against.

It was probably best to look at his own while the pest was distracted and get rid of it, judging by how insistent he was being.   
_Lab, fifth shelf, item C72. Install it, Atua says you’ll need it. -Angie._   
What? Why would he need anything in that dreadfully sci-fi lab? The paper crumpled easily as he pondered. He had to go see what the item in question was, of course. Angie was guided by Atua like he was by his inner voice. So of course it was the right thing to do.

“Is just saying to keep hanging out with you. Not a secret.”

“You aren’t lying to me, right Gonta? You know how much I hate lies!”

Better to slip away before their attention turned back to him.  
He almost wished they had spotted him with how easy it had been to get to his lab unnoticed. There were so few of them left...and if the whole world was like those pictures...he couldn’t dwell on that. Focus on keeping who was left alive. He couldn’t do anything about what had happened. The bright colours of the lab were bad enough when just looking at the place, but while actively searching? He hated every nanosecond of it. That, and he barely knew where anything was in here to begin with. Clearly Angie had spent more time in this lab than he cared to.  
Figuring out that this ‘fifth shelf’ actually rotated had taken more time than he would want to admit. Yet it moved easily at his touch when he figured it out, leaving him to quickly scan the labeled parts, grabbing at the shelf when the right number showed up. A human probably shouldn’t stop it like that, but his own arm barely twitched from the impact.  
This was the right number, but he wasn’t exactly sure what the thing was meant to be. Turning it over a few times made him fairly sure it was meant to attach to his arm somehow, judging by the shapes. It seemed half assembled, like a part of it was missing still.  
He didn’t like this. He didn’t want this thing anywhere near him, let alone in his arm. Besides, it wasn’t like he knew how to use any of this stuff.  
Yet it was an excuse. Part of him already knew where he could start assembling it, he knew exactly where there would be room inside his right arm. He recognized the attachment points. Somehow. Clearly he just knew what his own insides looked like and recognized the shapes on this new...thing. That had to be it. The fact the wiring in the new part matched seamlessly with his own was somewhat disturbing. How much did Monokuma know about him? The Professor’s methods were secret! Not...that it really mattered anymore, but he still didn’t like it.  
He hesitated again, the dull discomfort buzzing in his chest. He had to trust in his friends, and in Angie. Surely it was for the best. Friends had to compromise sometimes.  
This compromise did feel a bit unfair. No one else had to modify their body for the good of everyone else. Though it wasn’t like any of the others could do such a thing.  
He was being unfair again. He’s not a human, obviously. That doesn’t keep his fingers from slipping the first few times he starts setting up to remove the plating on his arm to install this thing. A strange time to feel fear, but he’d have to force it down. It was for everyone, right? So he could cope with... _this_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if people prefer shorter or longer chapters. I could have gone on longer but I more wanted to update instead of holding off again >>  
> Things are officially Afoot, so hopefully it is interesting! i swear i have a plan. not sure how many people actually read tho cus there's a lot of good stuff out here right now ha :v


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This getting along thing isn't going too well...

“You don’t get it! Doing this stuff isn’t gonna keep things peaceful!” Kaito’s voice rang out through the darkened courtyard, shoving Keebo’s personal doubts to the side as he rushed over to the noise. How he felt could wait until whatever new problem that had emerged could be dealt with.

“It’s plain to see we need the curfew, you almost broke the rules…” Tsumugi was scowling at furious looking Miu, hair frazzled and fingers red as if she'd been dragged away from something.

“Fuck you and your rules you vanilla freak!”

In a word, it did not look good. His friends stood scattered near the dormitory, open hostility in faces and tense postures. Miu was half boxed in near the entrance by a Tsumugi and Himiko tag team. Despite Kaito’s boasting, he was half shielded by Maki, who was glaring at Angie hard enough that it looked like her target should melt. A shattered flashback light lay between them, bits of it spread across the stones. Shuichi seemed to be frozen up by the loss of the device. Kokichi looked like he might be having fun, riding on Gonta’s shoulders, but they felt out of place in the chaos.

“Atua thought you might all follow the rules, but you’ve scorned his generous chance.” Angie shook her head with a sad sort of smile. “Now the student council has no choice but to make sure you follow Atua’s wisdom.”

“Nyeh, you’ll keep trying to escape otherwise...Tenko would be upset if I let anyone else die…”

“Hah! You and what army Angie?” Kokichi asked, leaning forward on Gonta’s head. “ Gonta’s pretty good but you’ve only got one useful brainless ape. The rest are closer to brainless sticks.”

Angie didn’t even look towards the perching pest, still focused on Kaito and Maki. “Kaito, we were very clear about not using flashback lights. So now we must use force.” Her head tilted, smile at odds with the stern tone. “Won’t you go to the dormitories quietly?”

“What, so you can try and lock all of us up? Hell no! We didn’t even use that flashback light!”

“Ah, but you were going to, yes? That’s why you hid it instead of handing it over.”

“What’s going on? W-we shouldn’t fight like this.” He hesitated before speaking, inner voice urging him to intervene before it could get any worse.

“Kaito found a flashback light and Angie thinks we used it. She’s not listening…” Shuichi seemed to come out of his trance at the question, straightening up a little.

“Won’t it be nighttime soon? You’ll all need to sleep then anyway…This conflict is confusing.”

“Fuck that rule too! I do what I want!” Miu spat, making Tsumugi back up a little with a grossed out expression.

Shuichi seemed to grow more confident as the squabbling continued. “Angie, please listen to Kaito. No one used that flashback light. That’s the truth, we don’t need to fight over a misunderstanding.”

“It was already broken! Can’t you see that?”

“I don’t see why we’re even pretending to go along with this.” Maki’s voice sent a chill into the air, drawing several pairs of concerned eyes.

“She’s got those killing eyes again…”

“Oh oh oh, I bet Gonta will win! If they fight fair. Which Maki won’t, cus she’s some cold blooded killer.” Kokichi feigned getting his throat cut, gurgling dramatically enough that Gonta looked genuinely worried for the pest using him as a place to sit.

“No she wouldn’t! Who’s side are you on?!”

He’d never admit it to anyone, but Monodam and Monotaro showing up was actually a relief. Everyone could agree they couldn’t be trusted.

“Oh man, did I forget you were all enemies? This is getting exciting!” The red bear danced between Maki and Angie, looking at the two with clear wonder in the beady little eye.

He couldn’t let the little menace say that unchallenged. “It’s just a misunderstanding…”

“RESOLVE-THIS-CONFLICT-OR-I-WILL-DO-SO-FOR-YOU”

Considering the green robotic bear had no issue with murdering their siblings to solve their problems, that did not sound like a good thing to let happen. Not that he had much to say, he’d come too late into the whole thing. His friends could figure something out, of course they could.

“Stickin their noses where they don’t belong…” Kaito muttered.

“Oh? The student council only wants to promote peace too!”

“By restricting where we go! So go find your god and fuck it so hard you drop dead!”

“Why would you want to go out when it’s just plain dangerous?”

“Away from HERE! I’ve been working hard but you used condoms keep fucking everything up!” Tsumugi backed up half a step before Miu could spit at her again.

“If you had a way out, you would have used it already.” Maki didn’t look away from Angie.

“It’s away from the damn bear! I just finished before figurine fucker forced me away!”

“Now that’s just plain rude…” Tsumugi muttered, scowling at the ground.

“Miu knows a way away from Monokuma?” Gonta brightened considerably, discomfort from watching friends fight vanishing. “Gonta would help with that! Just tell what to do.”

“How divine! You can show us in the morning!” Angie rocked side to side, apparently immune to Maki’s disapproving stare.

Keebo braced for another torrent of swears from Miu, and wasn’t quite sure what to do when none came.

“Uh...maybe you could go into that a bit more?” Shuichi looked just as baffled at the sudden shift in mood

“Huh? What? I’m confused again.” Monotaro butt in again. “Are we friends? Who’s the enemy?”

“I need a silencing spell but magic doesn’t mix well with machines…neyh. Annoying...” the so called mage adjusted her hat.

“We aren’t falling for that.”

“Like I want to trust you guys wouldn’t do something like barricade our rooms shut.” Kaito hesitated, though he only had eyes for his two sidekicks. “So, are we cool? You can believe me and my sidekicks so we can believe in you?”

“Maybe Kaito totally wants an excuse to stay in his room all day. Huh? Huh? Do ya?”

“Stop messing around! If you don’t want to be helpful, just keep quiet like you always do!” Kaito's cheery demeanor faltered as he glared at Kokichi.

“I-HAVE-ADDED-A-RULE. THE-PROBLEM-IS-SOLVED.”

...This seemed too overly helpful. Sure, it was the cubs doing it, and not their more malicious father, but it wasn’t sitting quite right. _No student will barricade or otherwise seal a door through use of other objects. Please use the provided locks to your heart’s content._

“Does the robot count as an object?”

“Of course I do not! I am alive, no matter how often you insinuate I am not!” He couldn’t help himself. To go from checking some new arbitrary rule to instantly using the chance to insult him was just too irksome to ignore. Of course he wasn’t some simple object!

“Awwww. I wanted to see you get wasted by loitering near a door. Now the rule sucks.”

“Ah, you’d need to be a bear to bearaccade a door! I remember that!”

“So you could get Gonta to block the door.” Maki still looked unconvinced, even with Kaito’s nudge to ‘believe’ in the others.

“Gonta only one person...does not really like blocking doors anyway.” The large man looked sheepish, pointing at Kokichi. “That’s why we just hanging out! Like friends.”

Kaito stood up straighter before making his statement. “We’ll sleep on it. No one is gonna hurt anyone, and once you see that you can tone down on all this rule stuff, got it?”

“Atua is forgiving as well as handsome. Though you really should just join us!”

The monocubs continued to loiter despite all the students ignoring them. There had been a moment to worry when the forgetful bear had started jumping at the back of Angie’s coat claiming he wanted a ride, but he’d retreated when Tsumugi and Himiko moved to protect their leader.

It was odd, seeing two strong leaders clash. Kaito had spoken for everyone, but Angie was still being more selective. It was making things difficult. Logically he wanted everyone to get along. Even those he did not like very much. Would Kaito’s apparent faith in others be better than Angie’s? No...she heard things like he did. Kaito was going on those odd ‘gut feelings’ that he could not comprehend. Why was an organ used to digest things some sort of metric for trustworthiness? It was illogical, nearly nonsense.  
He was just grateful his friends were glad to disperse to their rooms, only exchanging looks instead of further arguments. He should join them, but the aching discomfort that he’d done something very wrong wouldn’t let him settle. The professor would never know he’d used some new upgrade...yet it still felt like a betrayal in a way Miu’s upgrades didn’t. She was a friend who respected his creator, or at least his work.

He found himself at Angie’s door, unable to sort out the emotion. If she could reassure him that it had been the right thing to do, perhaps it would sit better. “Angie? Do you have time to talk?” he asked as she responded to the knock, already half regretting asking. Maybe she would think he was doubting her good judgement?

“Hm? Angie? Sorry Keebo, you’ll have to leave a message on that. Good timing though.” The slightly more tense posture should have given it away as soon as he’d seen her. Or rather, him.

“You switched?”

“Clearly. Come in, I’ve got something I need to show you.”

This wasn’t helping with the wrongness in his arm, but he couldn’t go abandoning a friend. Even if Rantaro was...overly comfortable with him in a way that he wasn’t sure he liked. So he stepped into the room, glancing at the scattered art supplies strewn around. He absolutely did not flinch when Rantaro closed the door behind him.

“Depending on what this is, we might have a problem.” Rantaro pulled a bottle out of Angie’s coat, placing it on the table with no care for the paper already on it. “How long has it been? A few days?”

“Since the trial? Yes, it’s been a few days. People were starting to think the switching had stopped.” The bottle produced didn’t really seem all that interesting. “Some sort of flavoured beverage? I don’t understand.”

“Test it for me, will ya? I have a feeling it might be poisoned.” he shrugged before rubbing at his chin. “...They didn’t strip even that from you, did they?”

Keebo had been adjusting his hand to get the proper tool before he even realized what he’d been doing. It was more to check the composition of a liquid, not to detect poison exactly...but Rantaro had known about it? He didn’t remember telling him about that particular function, even if it was useful for assisting with more chemical based experiments at the lab. “I do not have a large database of poisons...but I will know if something should not be there. How-”

“You told me.” Rantaro cut him off, giving a bit of a smile as he shook his head. “I guess the story is pretty out there, but I was kinda hoping you’d trust me by now.”

“My apologies. I am not sure how I feel about it, in all honesty.” He was starting to doubt he ever would. The fact the sugary drink did in fact contain something that would not be needed in grape juice wasn’t making things better. “I don’t know what it is, but I think you were right to doubt it…”

“Any idea why Angie’s walking around with a poisoned drink? You seem pretty chummy, coming to her room at nighttime.”

“No? I can’t see a reason for anyone to have such a thing.”

“Murder. I’m just trying to figure out if this is Angie’s plot, or someone else’s. Does she normally carry drinks for later?”

Being that matter of fact about it was distinctly unwanted. Even if logically, there was no other reason to be carrying some unidentified substance around in what looked like something to consume. “I do not remember seeing her with such a thing before, I may have simply overlooked it,”

Rantaro clasped his hands together as he sat on the bed, staring at the wall as if it would give him answers. “So it might be her plan. It should be fine, it was full when I checked it…but where did she get it from?”

“Shuichi’s lab opened. There were poisons and antidotes in there. Though it might not be a poison and I’m just not identifying it properly..”

He shook his head, dismissing the robot’s concern. “Right, more labs I need to check out...This switching is inconvenient. Still, better than it could be, I suppose.” Fingers looked for rings that were no longer there, earning a bit of a scowl. “I need to get my stuff back for when this happens. Anyway, got a job for ya.”

“A job?” Not that Rantaro had ever asked him to do anything explicitly dangerous, but he had gotten Monokuma on his heels for trying the door stunt. Maybe he shouldn’t?

“Yeah. That lab you mentioned, try and figure out what poison it was. If you know that, you can keep the antidote handy...just in case. We might have been too late.”

“You just said the bottle was full?”

“It is. But it’s not the bottle of poison. I can’t tell how much was used for that, so for all we know there’s more somewhere else. Might not be trouble for you, but the rest of us do need to eat.” he chuckled as Keebo frowned. “If you find it, hopefully it’ll have a label. We can go from there.”

“I suppose that makes sense...” he said, unable to find a reasonable argument back. No one should be attempting to kill anyone else! Escaping was meaningless...and Angie knew that. This didn’t add up. Yet he couldn’t let the possibility go. All he had to do was check the poisons against the unknown substance he already had in his hard drive. Other than needing to thoroughly wash his hand after, there’d be no risk to himself. If he didn’t find a match, that’d be a good thing, right? “Shouldn’t we warn the others?”

“No. The last thing we need is giving people reasons to suspect one another. I’m still hoping my showing up here already stopped the problem, this is just precaution.” The creases on his brow looked so out of place on what was usually Angie’s nearly always sunny face. “Shuichi should have asked you to get the poisons on file the second he found them.”

“I-I don’t think Shuichi knows about that function. He seemed unenthused when I described some before...It’s not his fault.”

“Hmm. I guess that makes sense.”

Did it? The robot certainly didn’t see how it ‘made sense’ exactly. Did Rantaro just assume most would find him boring? That... _might_ be it, if he apparently knew him. “Well, I’ll get started on that. I do have all night.”

“Be safe. I don’t think too many people could hurt you here...but Miu could probably make something that would.”

“Miu’s my friend! She wouldn’t do something like that.” On purpose. Surely not.

The smile on his face was sad as he gestured to the bottle again. “Angie’s your friend too, right?

The silence was uncomfortable, the robot unable to make himself agree to validate Rantaro’s more suspicious opinions. He didn’t want to just suspect everyone that easily. These were the only people left, and being told not to trust them just hurt. He was growing very tired of secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again with the shorter chapters. I sort of just want to have something posted so I just take a breakoff point...really sorry if those who prefer the longer chapters are aching for a long one. Things do happen though, so hopefully that makes up for it? Like sure I could sit on this part until more was done but it's already been a few weeks so :v  
> danger's afoot


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Investigating leads to answers, but he's not sure we want them.

It was very hard to argue with results you did not want to see. He had hoped that Rantaro had been mistaken, or simply over cautious, but even asking Atua would do nothing to change what he had found to be true.  
One of the poisons matched the unidentified substance in the beverage Angie had been carrying. He retested several times to be absolutely sure it was not an error, but he could not keep denying the reality. Either someone had tried to poison Angie, or she had been the one planning to poison someone else. The bottle that matched felt cold in his hand, as if some darkness had kept it in a frosty shade. Destroying it would not get rid of the harm it might have caused, but the temptation was strong. Instead he chose to focus on the label, and the amount of liquid remaining. The glass container looked to be half full, but he had no way of knowing exactly how much had been in the juice. It might have all gone to that, but it could very well have been used in multiple locations. The fact the bottle cheerfully proclaimed A Spoon Full of Murder made the other possibility more likely. ‘Twice Shy’ seemed like a very weird name for a poison, yet it couldn’t be anything else. He’d been able to locate the untouched antidote for it as well among the shelves. If only most of the back label hadn’t been scratched off, he could know what it did. All he could get from it in this state was the probable dose and that blood might be a symptom. Not exactly how there would be blood, he could only make out ‘your victim will bleed’ from the scrap still clinging to the dangerous little bottle.

He set the poison back exactly where he had found it, making sure to pay careful attention to how much was left. If it was used again, he would know to be on the lookout for it. Doubting people, even when there was clear proof he should still felt wrong. At least his inner voice could reassure him that it was right. It agreed that he should keep the antidote, just in case. After all, if someone started reacting badly at a meal, he would be the most likely one to notice.

Would there be time to talk about what he had found? The argument outside the dorm had been frightening, and Miu might still insist on showing whatever she’d been working on before Tsumugi forced her back to the dorms. Angie wasn’t here to bring up the issue again, but everyone else would still be on edge. Knowing that there might have been a plot to kill afoot was just making him see everything as a possible danger. It wasn’t like Miu was building weapons in her lab, she didn’t seem the type to make something to intentionally hurt people. She wanted to help the world with her inventions, she was proud of that fact. There was nothing to worry about. Yet the thought kept prodding at him as he rested in his room, waiting for the sun to wake the others. He should be using this time to study up on something, or reflect a bit on how to be more ‘human’ for the others. Why did Rantaro have to get him doubting things? To possibly save lives, of course. It was worth it.

Himiko had actually come and asked for his help preparing a meal for everyone, the knock being halfhearted enough that the robot had almost missed it. He was glad to help, thrilled that the sleepy magician was including him for a change. Even as the question of ‘why’ echoed in his head. Himiko wasn’t his biggest fan, and was casually robophobic quite often. He wanted to believe she just felt like being nicer, or Atua had told her to be more accepting. Yet there was that doubt, the nagging jolt that her motivations were not kind ones. His inner voice trusted Rantaro more than anyone else, or at least always told him ‘no’ if he thought about dismissing the concerns the returned to life student posed. Why did this need to be something his human friends didn’t have? It always had his best interests in mind in his memories, but it was starting to feel biased in a way. Less logical reasoning, more leaning on emotion and assumption. It might be broken? The dateless memories, how he’d just-just seriously considered harming a classmate that one time. He didn’t let Miu poke around his processors or hard drive, he wouldn’t trust anyone but the professor to be able to mess with any data that pertained to his AI, but all the issues were alarmingly software focused.

“Neyh, you’re ‘spost to put more bread in the toaster, not leave it there.”

“A-Ah, sorry! I was just deep in thought, I know what to do.”

Himiko didn’t look too convinced, peering at her fellow student council member for a long minute. “Gotta tell Angie if somethin’s wrong you know...thought you don't get tired...being a robot and all.”

“I am aware. Honestly, it was simply distraction. Thank you for the concern.” Setting the toaster to work as he spoke might reassure the magician a little. She was still frowning, but stopped the staring.

“I used to make this stuff all the time. Easier for just two people though.” The hissing of the eggs almost drowned her out.

“Oh, you made food for your parents? I did that for the professor occasionally, when he stayed at the lab too long.” He knew he was smiling, but still had the doubt buzzing beneath his metal exterior. Why did she want to talk now? Was he bothering her by bringing up his own experience?

“Not my parents.”

“Oh. Someone like a parent?”

She gave a little grumble, rolling her eyes. “What’d you know about parents anyway, you don’t have any.”

Well that might be true, but he didn’t really like hearing her say it with that accusatory tone. “Professor Idabashi is- he was like a father to me.” He corrected himself only reluctantly, keeping his eyes on the toaster. Just don’t think about how everyone and everything is gone. Deal with that later.

The ‘nyeh’ he got in response was almost the definition of non committal. “Master liked omelets but that’s too much effort for you guys.”

“I’m sure the others will be happy with anything.” Even going to this effort was much more than Himiko would bother with before. “Wouldn’t it normally be your master’s job to make you food?”

“Well I wanted to! He’s the best mage ever, he’s worth it! And it was only when we were on the road for shows anyway. Not a big deal.”

“Well I expect breakfast would be a way to say thank you to the magician that taught you everything.”

“Mageeeee. We’re mages!” Her insistence was swift, and she nearly missed a plate in order to chastise the robot more quickly.

Mages did not exist. Yet saying that would be pointless. Perhaps that was just how Himiko preferred to cope. Even if it seemed unhelpful to him. “Is there anything else?”

“Nehhhhh. You can finish the orange juice. I’m too tired.” She shoved the juicer and rolled a few oranges his way, snickering a little when he had to move quickly to keep one from rolling off the counter.

She’d given up half way, but he should be able to manage to finish it. Lapsing back into silence felt like a failure, but what else could he say? Himiko didn’t like it if he talked about her magic tricks.

“Tenko’s really waiting with Atua, right?” Himiko broke the silence herself, though she kept staring at the wall. “Like if Atua takes soulless robots He’d look after her too. He’d have to.”

Maybe he crushed the orange against the juice a little harder than strictly necessary in response. She was just hurting, he shouldn’t take it personally. “That is what Angie said, yes. Tenko always wanted your attention in life, I expect she would continue afterwards if possible.”

“If Rantaro hadn’t found that sickle, Tenko would have died in my place, Kiyo was gonna have me in the cage.” she let out a bit of a sniff, pulling her hat down. “ But then she died anyway and. It’s not fair!” Her second sniff sounded wet and unpleasant. “Angie really knows best thanks to Atua, right?”

How honest was he meant to be in this situation? Why was she spilling- quite literally spilling with these tears these feelings to him? “I expect she does? After all, she knows things that she could not learn without outside help. I believe Atua is like my inner voice, and I know that is real enough.” This didn’t address his own doubts, his own worries. Why did Angie have poison? Surely there would be no reason to use it.

“I don’t think some voice in your head’s anything like Atua.” There was a smile underneath the sniffles now. “I gotta trust Angie. I don’t hafta question stuff, or do the hard thinking with Atua there. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome?” Was this a good thing? He might have asked, but the magician was shooing him off again before the other students woke up to meet up in the dining hall. She still seemed to think his help would be taken negatively. She might be right though, much as he did not enjoy that fact. So instead he was just as ‘surprised’ as the others that Himiko had prepared a meal for a second time.

Still, beyond thanking Himiko, the meal was tense. There was no idle chatter like there normally was, just focused chewing and gulping. Plenty of stares to go around, and some had clearly figured out Rantaro was back just by how he dressed in Angie’s body, yet it didn’t get anyone to break the chilly atmosphere. Kaito was more picking at his portion than actually eating, finally being the first to talk and claiming he was saving extra for his ‘hard working sidekicks’.

“Well once you fuckwits are done stuffing your faces, come to the computer room. I’m gonna blow your inferior little minds!” Miu laughed off the glares that came her way before heading out. So she did intend to show what she has been working on even with Angie absent.

“She’s going to keep complaining about it until we all look, isn’t she?” Tsumugi frowned, staring at an empty plate. “Plainly we need Arya’s guidance.”

“Uh, maybe. She was pretty insistent.” Shuichi kept looking over the remaining students, hand hovering as if he was tempted to bite at a knuckle. “If it can actually keep Monokuma away it might be worth looking at.”

“Better go together, or she might just murder the first person who shows up!” Kokichi earned some frustrated grunts, but the remaining students did keep together as they headed up the stairs.

“So? What’s the verdict?” Rantaro’s quiet voice wasn’t unexpected, even if it made the robot start worrying all over again.

“It was poison, as you hypothesized.” He was glad he’d hung back from the rest of the group, being overheard on the way up would have just caused more problems.

“Thought so. We’ll talk more later. I’m probably going to need you to watch my back. They might have been trying to target Angie, but it could have been meant for me. Probably hoping I wouldn’t question a drink she was carrying.” He gave the robot a lopsided grin before focusing his attention back on the stairs. “I have no idea how you handle being this short.”

“Angie would likely wonder how you survived being so tall.”

The body snatcher laughed, but seemed to grow serious as he nodded. “Fair enough. Don’t blindly trust Miu, okay?”

There was no time to answer, considering they had reached the computer room. It was a blessing, he didn’t want to respond to that. He didn’t blindly trust Miu, she’d proven she would not take advantage if he gave her some trust. Really, Miu had said something similar about him trusting Angie. Why did all of them think someone would betray him? The irritation kept him occupied as Miu started explaining why she’d dragged them all up to see the oversized, very boring and definitely inferior computer.

Miu’s big breakthrough ended up being some sort of virtual reality rig. Technically yes, there would be no Monokuma in the virtual world, but wouldn’t their bodies be at risk?

“There’s no stupid Monokubs, no stupid weapons and no fuckin problems! You keep bitching about living peacefully, so here you weepy vaginas go! A safe virtual world!”

“Well even if we all wanted to check it out, I don’t think you have enough helmets.” The detective spoke up, pointing at the prepared chairs.

“Eh? There’s enough!” Miu didn’t even glance back to check.

“Oooooh, Keeboy can’t play cus he has no consciousness to put in VR huh? Guess he gets a free murder chance instead!”

“I-I do so have a consciousness! I’m not that different! I am as close to human as the professor could manage!” He reacted out of emotion more than proper logic. His AI was close enough to how a human worked mentality, wasn’t it?

“Don’t have a brain or brainwaves though...just numbers.” Himiko’s yawning didn’t make the accusation less uncomfortable. The fact no one seemed to disagree enough to contradict the two just made his shoulders slump. Speaking up had been a mistake.

The fact Shuichi’s observation has been correct was very obvious when three people were still standing and two chairs remained.

“Gonta not really get virtual world thing. Gonta can keep watch! Gentlemen stand aside when short on things.” His easy smile seemed to be for everyone, but the robot felt like Gonta had spoken up first out of kindness. He wanted to thank the entomologist for being considerate, but didn’t want to imply that he expected to be left out either.

“What? No. We leave you alone and you’ll run off to stoke bugs all fuckin day.”

“Oh. So Miu not going?”

“I think Miu plans to be our guide. So you miscounted after all?” Rantaro paused in examining the helmet, a few of the others also snapping their eyes to the inventor.

“No way!” Despite how strongly she’d shouted the words, she was already folding in on herself. “W-We just needed a guard against those little shitstain bears!”

“Oh, I want that job!” Kokcihi was already hopping out of the seat. The chorus of ‘no, absolutely not, do you want to die’ and such from the rest of the class only got him to sniffle, rubbing at an eye. “Aww, none of you trust me at allllllll? You’re all so meannnnn!” He cut the fake waterworks abruptly. “But we totally trust the bitchy bolt fucker. Cus we’re all such good friends!”

“Nyeeeeeeeh. Shut upppp. You’re just making things take longer. I wanna see the avatars she talked about.”

“If you see anyone ditch, you can wake us all up before they can do something fucking sketchy.” Keebo could only stare at whatever she had shoved at him before darting off to her seat.

“Having a robot make sure we’re safely in a digital world is kinda ominous!” Tsumugi said, not looking up from the wires she was struggling to get firmly attached. “But it’s fine. Keebo won’t go all power mad so we’re more like him, plainly.”

The discomforted looks he got from Shuichi and Kaito from that comment was not reassuring in the slightest. He focused his eyes back on the paper and the sort of key fob Miu had shoved at him instead. Force disconnect instructions for the computer. Simple enough, not that he’d want to need them. Apparently he shouldn’t worry about avatar errors because Miu had custom changed them, but he should act if people started moving. Which made sense, they should be moving the digital bodies and not their real ones when hooked up. If their actual bodies reacted, something was wrong. Admittedly he didn’t listen too closely to Miu’s instructions. The world was meant to be safe, even if it might have originally been a trap. It almost certainly had been, considering there was a ‘prize’ in the simulation that Miu had been unable to locate. Yet she treated it as some pointless side bonus to just being somewhere safe.

That side bonus was the only reason Shuichi, Kaito, Maki, Kokichi and Rantaro would go along with this though. He just knew that from watching their faces. It felt almost a little too convenient. Miu was able to change the program but couldn’t find the hidden ‘prize’? He shouldn’t doubt her. Yet the feeling didn’t fade even as all the others entered the virtual world. All alone again, in a way.

The logs and words on the computer screen meant less than nothing to him, so he ignored that one to focus on what just looked like a regular desktop. It was a rather ugly Monokuma themed desktop, but it didn’t seem all that special otherwise. Scattered icons, shortcuts, documents. Miu’s questionable choice in naming conventions did make it fairly easy to tell what had been original at least. The inventor’s work might have been more interesting than ‘DespairMail’, but every document was locked and encrypted. Too bad, it might have been something to pass the time with.

Watching his friends be passed out in chairs was not very interesting. It was like they were asleep, only with weird headgear and poor sleeping positions. He’d find the Professor like that sometimes, half conscious over his desk from working on something or other. It didn’t matter how much he nagged at his father to get proper rest, he’d always be told it was worth the extra time with a smile.Remembering hurt. He needed to stop thinking about this. It wasn’t fair! Why did everyone else have to be gone? Yet someone like Kokichi was here? Alive and well? It didn’t matter. That’s just how it was now. He had to be logical, accept it, and try to make sure the killing stopped. You can’t afford to miss him right now. Angie had Atua show them that so they would stop trying to escape, so make peace with just being here. He knew that, yet part of him didn’t care how logical it was. Anger, maybe. Had he thanked the professor enough? Did he know how grateful his creation was? He couldn’t know that, and it hurt.

Coughing roused him from his musing, shaking his head as if it would get his vision working quicker. They’d been in there practically all day- but there shouldn’t be coughing.

Yet Kaito was coughing loudly, and incredibly awkwardly. He seized and jerked with the motions, muscles apparently working enough to make the cough happen, but still limp enough that it resembled a ragdoll getting dragged around. If he was ill enough that he was reacting even with his mind ‘absent’, he should be woken up. Yet when he turned to go force Kaito to disconnect he froze in place instead and ran forward to Maki.

She wasn’t moving strangely, or anything like that. It was the blood leaking from her slack jaw, and the sick gurgling noise her breath was making now that Kaito’s coughing fit had calmed. That was more wrong than the astronaut’s predicament- was it the poison? It mentioned blood.

He didn’t know what to do! He had the proper disconnect command, but should he be forcing the antidote in his pocket down Maki’s throat first as a precaution? Or was it slow acting and he should get Kaito awake, for all he knew his brain was frying. Too many options, too many possible incorrect results-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://www.strawpoll.me/20856537
> 
> (i took so long in writing that this whole have you vote thing was done way better by someone else but hey! help a robot out, he's having trouble.  
> all comments are loved and appreciated and hopefully this is still entertaining!)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A body has...has- wait a second.

Blood was a symptom. Blood was bad in general. Mechanical legs moved. He couldn’t risk waiting, he couldn’t know if Maki would be in any state to take the antidote if he woke her up first. Maybe it was unrelated, but he couldn’t risk it. Her blood stained his hand, but it didn’t matter so long as it was out of her mouth and not blocking her throat. Could you drown in your own blood? His grip on her chin and the bottle didn’t falter, his arms remained steady. Precision he could manage, even if it was hard to keep her head tilted upwards with the headset in the way. Kaito’s cough was an unwelcome backing track as he set the now empty antidote bottle aside, forcing himself to keep his eyes fixed on the assassin. Her breathing remained steady and she didn’t seem to be choking. Five minutes, no fresh blood trying to leak into every seam in his hands. He should have time to get the others up, explain what happened. At least, that’s how he felt. The danger had passed, as far as he could see.

Miu wouldn’t be too happy about him staining the keyboard, but he needed both hands and didn’t exactly have anything to wipe the blood on to. He was going to wake her up first, she would know how to get everything done the fastest, but reconsidered. Maki tolerated Shuichi and Kaito the most, and he’d probably need their help if she decided his actions had been to harm instead of help.

Shuichi’s confused “What’s going on?” confirmed he’d followed the instructions correctly, only glancing at the detective as he fumbled with the headset.

“Maki was bleeding, so I woke you up. Just assist her while I get everyone else awake.” He really wished there was just a ‘wake all’ button.

“Maki? What happened?” He didn’t speak again after spotting her, running over as she sat up and started spitting.

“Poison. Should have guessed.” The flatness of her voice was at odds with the slight tremble of her wrist, but neither of them dared to comment on it.

He didn’t have time to wonder how exactly she knew it was poison, scowling at the interface error Kaito was giving him before moving down the list.

“Okay, what in the name of fuck were you shitlords doing!” Miu was yelling and pointing fingers at the rapidly growing group around Maki the second she was back in reality. “All you bitches had to do was NOTHING, and you still fucked it up!”

“We don’t know yet exactly, we’re trying to figure it out.” Shuichi had already scooped up the discarded antidote after Maki had waved him away.

“Atua must have made sure you didn’t die.” Himiko hadn’t bothered to get out of the chair, legs swinging as she waited for the others to deal with the problem.

“Uh, Miu? Something’s wrong with Kaito’s connection, it won’t let me end his session.”

“You’re probably just doing it wrong, get out of the way.” She rolled her eyes and elbowed the robot aside, sticking out her tongue when she noticed the blood. “What the hell Keebs, wipe your fuckin hands.”

“It was an emergency.” That, and he didn’t like the computer all that much anyway.

“Fuckin killer ass blood all over this-” She paused mid rant. “That’s weird. Maybe you were doing it right.” Her clicks became more insistent, the annoyed clench to her teeth loosening as she stared at the monitor. “This what it said when you did it?”

“Yes, exactly that. No target.”

“Hey Pooichi! Go check Spaceball’s helmet wire!”

“Why me? Again!?”

“Shaddup and do it!”

“It looks fine to me Miu, They’re both firmly in there.” Rantaro beat Shuichi to the helmet, the casual smile strained as he examined it.

“Ha! That’s what she said.” Her laugh was quieter than usual as her focus returned to the monitor. “He’ll have to log out manually, something got more fucked than grape shit’s peabrain.”

“I’ll go get him.” Shuichi’s attempt to sit back down was blocked by Maki’s arm.

“No you won’t. Someone poisoned me and messed with Kaito. It might be a trap.” Her eyes were like a blizzard biting at your limbs, a cold that made you want to go numb. “Have someone else go get him.”

“Plainly I should go, I am part of the student council and all.” Tsumugi seemed happy to volunteer, but hesitated before actually putting the helmet back on. “Does this make me the one walking into the obvious trap? Oh I hope not.”

“God Gonta, you have to take the helmet off to see, you big idiot.”

Keebo intended to tell Kokichi to leave Gonta alone, but had a much more pressing problem as Maki shoved him to the floor, the heavy slam of his body against the tile loud and distracting.

“What did you do.” She cut off his attempt to get back up by pinning him with her foot, red eyes boring into blue. Miu flinched away from the sudden nearby violence, but remained as silent as the others watching.

“I gave you an antidote from Shuichi’s lab after I noticed you were bleeding. Then I attempted to wake everyone up. That is all I did beyond sitting here and waiting.” He stared back, hoping his arms weren’t shaking too much. Maki wasn’t going to try and kill him in front of everyone, right?

“And you just happened to have an antidote with you?”

“I noticed one of the poisons in Shuichi’s lab had less than the others. So I kept it as a precaution.”

“Instead of telling us? You should have said something.”

“Or did someone tell you to stay quiet?” Shuichi’s calm tone was a welcome break from the harsh assault that was Maki, even if the question was just as dangerous.

“I didn’t say anything for the same reason you didn’t say you were an assassin. It would just worry everyone.” He had nothing to offer the detective. It was mostly his idea, he was pretty sure.

The room seemed to chill somewhat, both of them secure in their arguments.

“Neyh...I think I figured out why Kaito’s thing is all glitchy.” Himiko tugged on Shuichi’s sleeve, startling the boy out of his thoughtful expression.

“What? Board breasts thinks she knows when my genius couldn’t figure it out? Fuck that!”

“Mmmh. He looks pretty dead, that’s all.”

No one breathed, the words making time seem to freeze. A beat before frantic movement, Maki across the room with almost everyone else stumbling afterwards.

“You’re too much of an idiot to die, remember?” She was muttering, hands looking for a pulse, ignoring how still the astronaut’s chest was.

No one wanted to pay attention to the chime, or how the monitor snapped on to show the grinning black and white bear.

“A body has been discovered! I’d tell you to all come see it, but you’re already there! Though it took you a long time to notice, puhuhuhu!”

Monokuma’s delight only made his doubt worse. How had Kaito died? Maki was the one in danger, he had simply been coughing again. Yet he kept thinking back, wondering if there had been a sign. Yet the announcement meant it had to be a murder, right? Not simply Kaito succumbing to an illness he had kept insisting was not a big deal?

“Who killed him.”

“One of you lot, that’s for sure!” The bear appeared, waving the Monofile in front of the assassin’s face as if trying to get a dog to jump for a treat. “Maybe if you work really hard, you won’t all join him!”

“Welllll, the robot was the only one here, ya know.”

“I didn’t do anything! I was here the whole time, I swear!” He objected to the suspicion Kokichi was instantly throwing at him, but it didn’t keep the others from looking at him warily. “Why would I help Maki but kill Kaito? That’s completely illogical.”

“Oooh, machine’s figured out excuses! We only have your word on that.” he smirked, arms behind his head. “And we know how worthless that is.”

“Enough fighting. Let’s focus on the investigation. We can point fingers in the trial, okay guys?” Rantaro moved between his classmates, his uneasy smile still present. “Until then, this is all speculation.”

THe detective seemed to come out of his dazed shock, finally tearing his eyes away from the corpse to give a hesitant nod. “R-Right. We need to investigate. Miu, you said there was no way someone could die in the simulator, right?”

“Well duh. It’s not an escape if one of you small brained virgins could go killing people!” She turned to scowl at Kaito’s corpse as if it personally offended her. “Space for brains died on this side, no fuckin question.”

“Ahhh! Monokuma’s here?” Tsumugi cried out, helmet still in hand.

“Uhhuh. Angie being gone was bad luck again.” The magician supplied with a yawn.

“How awful. Anyway, I don’t know why but he couldn’t log out even when I told him to use the phone Miu.”

“Wait, hold on a moment. What do you mean, Tsumugi?” Keebo spoke first, confusion making him furrow his eyebrows.

“Huh? I just went to get Kaito like everyone asked. Did you all just plain forget about that? I know I’m just a side character but that really hurts, ya know?”

“You spoke to Kaito?” Maki moved to stare at the cosplayer, who flinched back in her seat.

“Y-Yes? The phone wouldn’t work, and he was wondering why we all left but-”

“You better not be lying.”

“Well Miu? Would it be possible?” Rantaro cut in again, a hint of irritation found in his curling fingers.

“Like, I guess. The computer grabs your conscious mind from your body. I guess he was braindead enough he didn’t even fuckin notice he actually fuckkin lost the original.”

“Hey slutterfly, he just asked if it was possible. Not for your garbage guess on why.”

The robot tensed at Miu’s whimper as she backed down, glaring at the boy. “Kokichi, no one asked for your opinion either.”

“Oh! A two for one on ‘I don’t care’. I want a refund, this store sucks.”

“Okay. If Tsumugi is right, we might still be able to talk to Kaito in the virtual world. So how about we split up while looking for evidence.”

“Kaito? Why are you worried about him?” Tsumugi looked flustered as she crossed the room, not even looking at the astronaut's body. “He’s fine! It’s Gonta that’s strange!”

“What about him? He’s just having trouble with the helmet right?” Himiko looked as well, pushing the brim of her hat a bit to try and see better.

“Tsumugi, er. Kaito-” Shuichi started to say something, but couldn’t seem to finish the sentence.

“Pussy. He’s dead. Kaput. Fuckin mulch to be.” Miu looked like she might have kept going, but a glare from Maki shut her up.

“Oh! My turn again! A body has been discovered! It’s also in the computer lab!” Monokuma cackled after the announcement ring ended.

“W-What? Another body?” Keebo just stared at the bear, then finally looked to Gonta again. He was still. Too still. He seemed like he might have been asleep, though his open mouth made it seem like he had been surprised by something before his heart had stopped beating.

“Wait, do we hafta do two trials? One’s bad enough…”

“Nope! Whoever killed Gonta really messed up! We haven’t had Kaito’s trial yet, so that body’s worthless!”

“Gonta isn’t worthless! How dare you! That’s just plain wrong!”

“So we don’t need to find out who killed Gonta?” Shuichi sounded somewhat hollow.

“Of course we do!”

“Righto! I don’t care about who killed him. So whoever did it isn’t graduating. I only want to know who killed our luminary of the hairgel! But I’ll give you a Monofile on him anyway, if you reeeeeally want to waste your time.” Monokuma pulled a second Monofile out, dropping it in front of Tsumugi’s feet.

“So you aren’t going to tell us if the murders are related?” Rantaro asked, already flicking through his own monopod as if to check for something.

“That’s all on you! The trial is for Kaito’s killer. Gonta’s just as much of a waste of time dead as he was alive! Have fun!” The bear cackled again before vanishing, leaving the students to stare at the ever complicating situation.

“Gonta’s death doesn’t count? What kind of fucking bullshit is that?” Miu snapped, looking as if she wanted to punch the computer monitor.

“We’ll find the truth, for both. We have to.” The detective moved from where he had been rooted since he realized Kaito was dead, though his arms were still shaking as he crouched to check on Gonta’s body.

“We might have one or two murderers, so we’ll look into both until we’re out of time. Tsumugi, can you help me check all the connecting wires?” Rantaro was already moving to check before she answered.

“I know it’s chapter four but I really liked Gonta…oh I want to reload, this isn’t fair.” Tsumugi rambled her nonsense as usual before helping take a look.

Kokichi was standing nearby the huge body, staring as if it actually shocked him. With the helmet on, the gentle giant had just looked asleep. No damage to his body, no blood, no mess. Even the sharp eyed imp hadn’t noticed at first look. His lips twitched before stretching out into an over wide smile, spinning on his heel to look at the others. “Wow! Gonta was so stupid he couldn’t even die in a way to help the culprit! He couldn’t even do that right! What a big useless idiot!” His irritating laugh earned glares from everyone still present, but that didn’t make him stop. “You won’t even make things exciting, you pointless, gullible, nincompoop!”

“Shut up and investigate.” Maki looked tempted to try choking the cackling boy, but was distracted by Shuichi asking her to go check to see if there was anything to investigate in the virtual world.

“Miu, I know you said the virtual world was safe, but I mean it, I didn’t do anything to anyone. I just watched.” He approached Miu carefully, noting how her hands remained clenched ever since the second announcement.

“Well nothing happened in there, so you’ll have to figure out what did happen. I can vouch you didn’t mess with the computers, but that’s all I’ve got.”

So did she believe him, or not? He stared at his bloodied hand, trying to calm the worry and tension growing in his chest. “That’s a start. I just wanted you to know I didn’t take advantage or the situation, or anything.”

“Well I wouldn’t have fuckin let you not join in if I didn’t think that. Fuck off and look for shit to convince the others already.” Miu waved him off, but he couldn’t shake the feeling she didn’t really believe him. After all, she seemed a bit more cranky than usual, but that could just be the situation. Two murders in one day, two mysteries to solve.

An investigation he might have to do alone, based on how his friends were avoiding him. That was fine. He knew he was innocent, and they had the ultimate detective on their side. He’d find the truth, and he just had to do his level best to help. Maybe he should check places that weren’t the computer room.

“Where you going, rustbucket? Off to destroy the incriminating evidence?”

“No. I am planning to look around the school for ways Kaito and Gonta could have been killed slowly over time.” He stared at the boy now blocking the exit to the room, not bothering to mask his irritation for the robophobic pest.

“Back to the scene of the crime! The killer always returns to it, but you’re doing it pretty quick. Though you are a robot, maybe you have a schedule to keep.”

“Go bother someone else. I am trying to help the case.”

“Who said I’m not? Keeping some suspicious robot from ruining all the evidence is totally helping!”

He took his prior internal worries about investigating alone back. He would prefer it, now that he was faced with a potential hanger on. Not that any amount of hoping someone would intervene would stop Kokichi.

_**Investigation, START!** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks isn't too bad? I decided to cut it before the investigation, hopefully it's still entertaining enough, mhm.  
> Thanks for all the comments so far, have fun speculating! c: (me going 'someone is going to know exactly what happened in seconds')


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'I have changed my mind I would rather be lonely', the chapter.

There had to be something he had overlooked. An endless stream of poison and testing had made up the night, it was perfectly logical that everything that didn’t match didn’t stick in his mind. Had he even checked the rest of the room very thoroughly? All the logic in the world wasn’t going to make a lick of difference in how Kokichi insisted on behaving.

“Like I know you’re the lamest robot ever, but you can see the poison is over here, right Keeboy? Or maybe you hid whatever you poisoned Maki with behind the file cabinet?”

“I didn’t poison Maki!” The robot’s attempt to not get angry wasn’t going well, fingers tightening on the edge of the file cabinet. “I’m looking for clues that might be overlooked.”

“Right, right, you saved the assassin. Good thing you just happened to know exactly what to use!” He waved a hand carelessly, the other busy rooting through the bottles of poison. “Just like you just happened to discover poison might get used! Ultimate lucky hunk of junk.”

“I’m the Ultimate Robot, not a hunk of junk. You know that, so cut it out.”

“Yeeeah? That’s what I saiddddd Keeboy.” The too wide grin looked painful to make, not that it stopped him.

Why did he insist on making it difficult to look for evidence? Not that he was finding much in these cabinets. Just what looked like cases about murders, with photos he really could have done without seeing. Nothing hidden in the back, no secret just waiting. He should have stopped after the first drawer was an abject failure, but something insisted he should keep checking. Yet the files just made him feel uncomfortable. So many bodies, so many painful looking deaths. Shuichi’s lab was almost as bad as his own, really.

“Keeboy! Come be useful!”

“What now?”

His glare watched the boy hopping up and down, trying to reach the uppermost shelves of poisons.

“I need a boost.”

“Ladders exist. There are plenty in the storage room, use one of them.”

“What, and leave you here unattended? Nuhuh killbot. Boost me.” He hopped in place again.

“No. Use one of the chairs if you won’t get a ladder.”

“Urgh are you so lame you can’t even do this? Even a Monocub could do it.”

“They could not! They would not assist you regardless.”

“Wow, even more things in common. It’s like you don’t even care how obvious you are. But okay! If you waaaant to stop me from finding the culprit, I guess it makes sense. Since you did it.”

How could Kokichi be so good at riling him up like this? None of it mattered, no one liked Kokichi anyway. Even if he did have a point. He needed proper evidence, knowing he was innocent wouldn’t help Shuichi find the culprit if he couldn’t prove it. “Fine. Just be quick about it.”

“I will! Who knows when you might glitch out and throw me off!”

The robot might not be strong enough to lift Kokichi, but that didn’t mean the troublemaker wasn’t strong enough to just climb onto his shoulders to reach the upper shelves. “What are you even looking for?”

“Duplicates. The ‘Twice Shy’ one you pointed out is useless without a complete label, duh.”

“I checked for that! It was the only one.”

The quiet shuffling and clinking of glass continued. “Uhhuh. You should just be glad you’re useful for a change.”

“I have been helpful many times. Far more frequently than you have been.”

“Mh, Gonta was really more useful, you were just the heaviest thing that was easy to throw.”

His shoulders tensed, the temptation to roll them and make Kokichi fall was incredibly strong. Yet that is probably what the boy wanted, another excuse to call him ‘violent’ to keep going on about how he had to be the killer. “I wasn’t referring to that incident.”

“Oh, you weren't? No idea what you mean then. Guess you hid all the other bottles!”

“If I wanted to conceal the poison from you, I simply could have not even told you what antidote I used. Then you would have no way to determine it at all.”

Kokichi stayed quiet for a moment, the sounds stopping before he answered. “Nah, then Monokuma would out you in the file. It’s not fun if we don’t have any hope of finding who did it!”

“I am not working with Monokuma! Just assuming I am because I’m a robot is irrational and robophobic of you.”

“You keep telling yourself that, Keeboy.” Kokichi looked bored, sliding off of the robot’s shoulders. “So was killing Gonta an accident?”

“I had nothing to do with either murder. I didn’t leave the computer room the entire time I was there. I didn’t even know either of them was dead!” Keebo raised his voice, even though taking a few steps back towards the desk didn’t really warrant yelling. “How about you? I have no idea what happened in the virtual world! What were you doing that makes you innocent?”

“Hey, it’s slutventor that says the virtual world is perfectly safe and unable to kill anyone.” He raised an eyebrow, leaning on the table. “Guess robots aren’t loyal either!”

“That’s- I’m not doubting her! She just might have overlooked something.” He didn’t like admitting that, but it was the only thing that was making sense to him. “She didn’t make the program after all, it might have been hidden in the code.”

“One itty bitty problem with that. Kaito’s cause of death is poison.”

“Gonta’s isn’t. We did not get a cause of death for him at all!”

“Uh, yeah? So what if Gonta’s wasn’t? He’s a useless lump of muscle dead and alive, remember? He doesn’t count!”

How could he say that so easily? “We still should find out who-”

“You’d like it if we wasted time like that. We aren’t.” There was a hard edge to his voice, and it felt wrong. “Juuuuust kidding! We’ll totally waste some time on him too. Shuichi’s going to be too busy with his little sweat crew.”

“I intend to check the kitchen, if you’re done.” It was easier not to look at the other boy for the moment. The weird mood swings were annoying enough to deal with when he wasn’t being suspected of murder. All he’d managed to do was confirm nothing had changed from when he checked the night before. So Angie either wasn’t the only one who had taken some, or whoever planned this had been preparing for at least a few days. Which certainly wasn’t helping his own case.

“Sounds good!” He didn’t even wait, apparently intending to lead the way. Taking the stairs down two at a time couldn’t be safe. The robot had to jog to keep up, quietly grumbling the whole way.

He always left before Himiko was done cleaning up, so he couldn’t be certain if anything changed. Kokichi instantly flinging open every possible cupboard just made sure he was confused. “Can’t you be more careful? We might overlook something if you try doing too many things at once.”

“This is careful!” His voice was muffled, already half inside a cupboard. He kept speaking, but Keebo couldn’t quite make out what it was, masked by the clanking of pots and pans.

No matter, it was probably just another insult anyway. He kept to the countertops, checking for missing tools. Yet everything appeared to be accounted for. The dishes left over from breakfast were clean, waiting to be put away. No strange bottles lurking in a corner, and not in the trash either.

“Don’t think you’ll fit in there, but it’s a good idea!” Kokichi snickered, flipping a pot over in his hands.

It was so tempting to shake the clinging bags and orange peels at him, but he forced himself to focus on the sink to rinse off instead. “You might fit, if you want to double check.”

“Robot’s being sassy with me! Did being around all your fellow appliances get you some confidence?”

His scowl deepened, snapping back instead of correcting him again. “Does mocking me make you feel better about no one liking you?”

“Makes it more fun, you’re soooooo boring otherwise.” He kept flipping the pot over, as if doing so enough would spit out a clue. “So why were you in the kitchen?”

The robot hesitated, blue eyes searching Kokcihi’s face for a hint of a bluff. “What do you mean?” 

“I don’t know any other inhuman things with hands around here, do you?” Narrow fingers pointed at a half wiped away handprint on the side of the pot before starting to tap at it. “Huh? Do ya?”

His brow furrowed, concentrating on the so called evidence. He had grabbed that one when it was hot, but he didn’t think he left a mark. “You do realize Himiko was the one making breakfast.” He didn’t have skin, but maybe the contrast in heat had been enough to make a bit of a stain?

“Himiko has fingerprints. So why were you in the kitchen, Keeboy?”

This was not going to go well. “I was helping Himiko make breakfast. She didn’t want anyone else to know.”

“So keeping quiet was her idea.”

“That is what I said, yes.” He crossed his arms, trying to stand firm. He hadn’t done anything wrong.  
“Maybe you aren’t as boring as you pretend to be!” The thoughtful look was gone in an instant, back to the casual mocking grin. “You keeping quiet about your council buddy poisoning Kaito too?”

“Of course not! I wouldn’t let anyone eat tainted food if I knew about it. That is your kind of prank.” This was obvious, he wanted to keep everyone safe. Keebo opened the fridge, double checking the shelves for any lost labels or oddities. He didn’t doubt Himiko at all. He was only checking to shut Kokichi up.

“Hey, minion. Fetch some orange juice while you’re in there. If you’re confused, that’s the orange coloured one.”

“Since when am I your minion? And I know perfectly well what orange juice looks like!” He narrowly missed banging his head in his haste to turn around and glare at the leader who was now perched on a countertop.

“Supreme leaders have minions. So you’re my robot minion today.” A pause, eyebrow lifting. “Doesn’t look like you know what it looks like, cus you didn’t take it out of the fridge.”

“I have no reason to listen to you. Get your own juice if you want it so badly.” Blatant robophobia, just expecting him to obey when Kokichi was nothing but rude!

“Hey, hey, Keeboy. Y’know what robot even means, you dumb bucket of bolts?” He was speaking as if his fellow student was an infant, smirking the entire time.

“I do not care what sort of descriptor you want to use.” It would be incredibly difficult to take Kokichi to court, considering there was no more world, based on Angie’s paintings. Still, he really, really wished he could.

“Servitude. That’s what it means.”

“I do not exist to serve anyone. Regardless of the origin of the word. I help because I want to.” He tried to keep his tone level, even as the insult made electricity hum in his head. “Besides, there isn’t any left.”

“Oh really? I know there was some leftover from breakfast.” He got off the counter, darting past the frustrated robot to actually check the fridge himself.

The robot stared for a moment before rolling his eyes. “Oh, now you check. Your paranoia is completely irrational.”

“Guess someone got rid of it. What a waste! Oh well. To the art lab, you can drink some paint thinner instead!” The fridge slammed shut as he ran off, thirst apparently forgotten.

Wait, what? Paint thinner? What did this have to do with- he halted midstep. Why was he even following Kokichi? He could go check somewhere else while the arrogant boy was distracted. Or perhaps he had to keep an eye on him. Even if he didn’t really see a way for him to be the killer.

“Oh come onnn. You can’t get possessed, you don’t have a soul. Hurry up!” His voice was strangely muffled in the ambiance of the third floor, as if the blood marked hall was grabbing it out of the air.

“Stop mocking me! I’m sick of it!” Maybe it was wrong to snap back at him, to keep caring so much about what someone so insistent on being frustrating said. “Being human doesn’t make you better than me!”

Purple hair poked back from behind the corner. “Actually, it totally does. Ya never told me why you exist. No one builds a robot by accident.”

“I don’t need a reason. Even if I did, I wouldn’t need to tell it to you.” The buzzing was louder, the frustration and anger making logical thinking more difficult. “Assuming you’re special because you’re human is just more of your robophobic behaviour.”

“Don’t like it? Make me stop.” He stepped forward.

“I already told you to. Multiple times! You don’t listen!” A hesitant step back.

Forward again, an ominous dark cast on the boy’s face. “Well you totally know that any murders after Kaito’s doesn’t count for anything. So go on, Keeboy.” The hall practically made him look like some spirit with their face split open, grinning like that. “Make me stop.”

“I have no intention of hurting anyone. Even robophobes like you.” He took another step back, trying to ignore what he had said. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t get in trouble for murdering Kokichi if he acted now.

“Or are you really so emotionless you aren’t even a little tempted? Hmm? Totally heartless?”

No one liked Kokichi anyway. Would anyone really look into the death? He could just pretend-no no, absolutely not. He shook his head hard and shoved past the boy, not wanting to look at him. “I am not a killer.”

Except when he was. Except the two times he even considered it. Twice now, with Kokichi. If this was an error, a bug in his AI, why wasn’t his inner voice putting that terrible thought aside? He didn’t need reassurances that he might not be found out, or that people would actually thank him for doing it. Killing was wrong. What about him kept bringing this- this awful feeling out in him?

“Aren’t you? Don’t sound real convinced to me!”

His arm whined, a reminder, an option. “I’m not. Shut up.” He forced his hand into a fist, ignoring the electricity that practically screamed that he could be done with this.

“Hey. We’re trying to investigate, dial it back for now.” Rantaro’s calm tone was a light in the darkness, the tension draining as he approached from the open art room door.

“Awwwww, you’re no fun! I almost got him to snap into fighter mode.” The ominous look was gone, the leader back to his uncaring posture and less unsettling smile.

“I don’t have a fighter mode.”

“You two find anything?” He ignored their squabbling, adjusting the odd makeshift outfit of two of Angie’s regular coats. “I haven’t spotted much myself, but I think there might be a clue here, come on.”He waved them both in, not pausing to wait for them to follow before re-entering the art room.

“Guess it was a good thing you didn’t try to kill me, or Rantaro totally woulda caught you! Nehehehe.”

That had an uncomfortable implication, but he did his best to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. Kokichi was just trying to psyche him out, throw him off. It was just what he did.

Which is why he was already close to Rantaro by the time the robot got into the art room, peering at a statue hidden by a drop cloth. “Oh right, the statue that’s too ugly to look at.”

“That’s not what I wanted to point out.” He stood near one of the easels, the painted over canvas now showing a hint of what had been below. “Do you know what was painted over?”

“The images of the outside world Atua showed her. They were unpleasant.” 

“She only showed everyone pictures of those, right?”

“I didn’t get to see, Gonta locked me up!”

“Okay. So Shuichi told me something interesting about Angie’s artwork.” The fact Angie’s body was saying this still struck him as strange.

“Interesting and Angie’s artwork don’t go together at all. Unless you’re into cults. Which I am, kinda hard to run such a large evil organization without cult tactics.”

“For someone who calls himself a liar, you are terrible at making believable ones.”

“Oh really? Who says I’m lying now?”

Rantaro coughed, earning twin stares from the squabbling pair. “Hey, you two can do the rival bit later, alright?” He held up a hand, shaking his head as both the boy and bot opened their mouths to protest. “I promise it’s worth your time. Apparently there’s so many drop cloths around here because Angie’s artwork will knock you unconscious.”

“That isn’t logical, or true. We all saw the effigies she made. While they were uncomfortably detailed, no one passed out from the sight.”

“Aw, but you’d fit right in with soulless copies, Keeboy. Even you didn’t like em?” Kokichi only started laughing again at Keebo’s sputtered outrage. 

Rantaro’s disapproval wasn’t anything more than rubbing at his forehead “That’s the thing. Those were copies, Angie wasn’t making art how she usually does. Y’see, she says Atua is the real artist.”

“I cannot see how that would make a meaningful difference. I do not think gods can actively manifest, even if she can hear them.” Really, if he did not have an inner voice of his own, he would dismiss the concepts of gods entirely as unfounded and illogical.

“Hey, magic art powers would totally spice things up. So what, cult work is so ugly it knocks you clean out?”

“If you aren’t prepared for it, or it’s the first time? Yeah. Even knocked me out.” Rantaro shrugged, tapping at the canvas. “Yet instead of sheets she painted over these.”

“So? We’re meant to live peacefully here and forget the outside world. Why would she want to keep painful reminders around?”

Kokichi rolled his eyes. “So we won’t know she’s a complete fake? Duh? Don’t you think ‘the outside world’ that’s so horrifying everyone passes out would be waaaaaay more convincing?”

“I suppose it might be.” Yet it seemed pointless? Why lie about it? “Or she simply did not want everyone passing out. She did warn us and explain that is why she took photos.”

“The fact she explained it is what made it suspicious. We can’t actually prove if this is an original work from her, or she was working off of something else like this.” He spoke gently and clearly, a welcome change from the rest of the day. “Which makes it more likely that it’s a copy. Kokichi, Angie is the one who got her hands on the motive, right?”

“Sure did! Snatched it before I could, so rude. No idea what that card showed. Unless you’ve got it somewhere?”

“Nope. I think Angie suspected I’d be back, and hid it. Or at least stored it somewhere I wouldn’t immediately spot it.”

Yet she had the poison right in her coat? That seemed strange. Rantaro wasn’t lying, was he? Or was he just hiding that fact from Kokichi and hoping he didn’t bring up exactly where it was? Keeping quiet about it just made him look suspicious, but he would have to explain why he had checked for poison during the trial. No one would believe he just did on a whim.

“That’s a lot of effort to hide something that isn’t that important…”

“Urgh. Do we have to explain EVERYTHING to you? If it’s from the motive, that means everything you ‘saw’ is something the bear made up to get us to kill. So it might all be fake.”

“Why would you think the motives are fake? Kirumi killed for one, and Ryoma knew his video was true-” Keebo tried to keep a level head, but if it was fake, the Professor might be okay? There might be something to go back to after all? “Assuming they are all lies now is wishful thinking.”

“Oh gee, why would I think lies are afoot?” He paused, closing his eyes and tapping his foot before opening them and looking like he made some sort of mental breakthrough. “ I’m talking to a walking tin can!”

“I’m not fake!” Being a robot didn’t mean he wasn’t real, or didn’t think, or anything like that! “You’re the liar who cannot be serious or honest for even a moment!”

“Sureeee you aren’t. That’s why you keep trying to fit in with humans when you’re a robot. Cus you’re soooooo real.”

“I knew you two wouldn’t be able to work together at all...this might be a problem.” he fiddled with the long sleeves of the jackets, watching the two bicker again. “Keebo? You should check out the virtual world before the trial. You’re the only one who didn’t get to see it, and it might be more important than it looks.”

“I did want to take some time for it, Kokichi distracted me by coming here instead.”

“Well we got evidence that your cult leader is super sketchy. You’re welcome.”

“It doesn’t help with what happened to Kaito.” All it did was call into question if Angie had used the motive or not, didn’t it? “It doesn’t help with Gonta’s case either.”

“Everyone else in the room knows it does, metal head.”

Rantaro remained silent, apparently lost in thought or just tuning out how often they fought now. Couldn’t he explain again instead of leaving him lost? The fact Kokichi apparently ‘got’ what it was and he didn’t was frustrating. Yet admitting that or asking the boy to explain would just earn more mockery. Better to just head back to the computer room. Miu might be willing to double check the program, and if not he still did need to see it at least. Otherwise he would have no idea what the others were up to at all.

Yet as they reached the hallway to the room, Kokichi cut ahead and blocked the way forward. “Oooooh right. What did your little secret note from Angie ask you to do? I can tell you what Gonta’s was. Then we’re alibi buddies.”

“I thought you said I killed Kaito.” So much for not wanting to ‘waste time’.

“You? No.” The blatant lie mixed with the boy’s relaxed stance, grin mocking the confusion it caused. “Only if someone told ya to. So did she? Huh?”

“Of course not! That is a ridiculous thing to assume, and to assume I would do it!” Anger he couldn’t feel justified at using towards Miu was much easier to direct at the troublemaking monster in white. Even if the fact both of them assumed he would do something like that was troubling. “I am sure Gonta was only asked to keep you busy, and you made up a worst case scenario.”

“Mmhm. Sorta!” The anger has about as much impact as water on a duck. “Gonta and I were busy setting up ‘fun’ activities. Like picking the least gross bugs to paint, or getting materials to make fake birds with Himiko. Part of the ‘peaceful happy living’, euck.” he stuck out a tongue with an exaggerated gagging noise. “So boring! Good thing we had that big fight outside the dormitory and never had to do any of it!”

“That’s what you were doing?” That sounded like a much better way to spend the day than worrying and fighting.

“You bet! I know Tsumugi was on Miu-watch, we saw her while setting stuff up. Didn’t see you till the fight tho. Secret plans?”

“I was in my lab. Whatever you’re thinking, it is wrong.”

“Just saying! Besides, you know no one left the dorms after that fight. Soooo whoever set this up did it before then, right? You might want to rethink that alibi of yours! It’s not very good!”

Fantastic. That’s what he needed, more periods of time where he was under suspicion for being alone. Though he did have some proof of what had occupied him for that half of the day, at least. Not that he really wanted to use it. The virtual world might hold more answers. Besides, knowing what the others had been up to beforehand might matter more than he thought at first. Talking to Kaito though...hopefully the astronaut didn’t blame him for prioritizing Maki in a tense moment. Maybe he could just avoid him entirely?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I split the investigation because these two don't shut up. oops. Sorry for the wait, I should have decided to split them sooner.  
> There are more hints to find after all, we barely got to talk to anyone except someone who already has their own agenda after all!  
> Thanks for reading c:


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The virtual world has secrets, right?

“Miu? Did you find anything weird?”

The inventor jerked with a startled squawk, shoving away from the computer as if it had burned her. “Geeze! Don’t fuckin sneak up on me like that!”

He frowned at her response, looking down at the tiled floor. “I was not moving particularly quietly?” Surely his footsteps would be louder than most of his classmates. “Still, I would like to know if you found anything.”

“As if there’s much to find. I can’t even do half the shit I want to cus it might ‘hurt’ the fuckin ‘splooginary’ or whatever the fuck!” Miu scoffs, gesturing at Shuichi and Maki’s seated forms. “You can ask Pooichi once he gets out of there.”

Now wasn’t really the time to be so crude, but it wasn't the time to try and correct her either. “I think it might be faster if I check myself. Can I use one of the other headsets?”

“Eh? The fuck you want to go there for?” Miu pulled at her hair, a strangely high pitch retort for such a simple request.

“I would like to know what the Virtual World was like. The trial might cover it. I would be at a significant disadvantage if it turns out to be important.”

“Fuck, you know it won’t! Kaito got poisoned!”

“I doubt Shuichi would let Gonta’s death go unexamined Miu. We do not know what caused him to die.”

“I’m not fucking dying because that sadsack wastes time on Gonta!” She snapped, stepping forward with an intensity the robot did not expect. 

He managed to stand firm, even if his first reaction was to back down. Something was off. “Miu. Gonta was a friend. He deserves attention as well, if we can spare the time. Personally I cannot think of anything else to explore, so I will use it this way. I can also use the time to ask Kaito if he remembers anything strange before meeting up today.”

“Yeah sure. Real fuckin friendly doing whatever any dipshit said.” She looked away, apparently more interested in the computer again. Unhelpful.

“The other headsets will work? I am not asking you to assist, a yes or no response is acceptable.” Keebo presses, trying to ignore the doubts and suspensions her behaviour is causing. She is merely stressed out and afraid. It is logical.

“How should I know? I didn’t fuckin build you. Maybe it does. Maybe it won’t do shit.”

The jab felt sharper coming from her then Kokichi. If it uploaded consciousness, she was practically admitting she did not think he possessed one. Or at least questioned that fact. “Then I will just need to try it.”

His voice was steadier than how conflicting feelings crashing and crackling inside him felt. Steady hands did not betray him either. Though the hesitation before actually turning the headset on might have. He did not have time to...feel and doubt himself like this. A simple twitch of his fingers shut the world off.

A strange, formal looking dining room of some sort? No, that wasn’t the word. Right- the virtual world. The exacts did not really matter. A quick check at the ‘avatar’ that would be ‘him’ for the duration of his investigation was somewhat unfortunate. Odd perportons, but he was still undeniably inhuman like this. He assumed Miu had not modified his- if she did not expect him to ever use it, why bother? Fitting in more might have been nice. Though it might have simply generated the avatar using his own data on how he considered himself. It was accurate, after all. Really, it was foolish to devote so much thinking power to it, but he was not finding much else of note. It looked like a manor, it had rooms and no sign of any dangerous weapons. No sign of Maki, Shuichi or Kaito either. So they were outside?  
The lack of footprints turned out to be a quirk of the virtual world, not a misjudgement on his own part. The falling snow, and not even the crunch of it underfoot made the cold area feel emptier and more isolated than it truly was. The towering black walls were almost a comfort. This place did not go on and on forever, no matter how empty it currently felt.

The ‘bridge’ seemed like it could be a problem. A poorly propped up sign over a river with a current strong enough that he could hear it. Logically it would snap under his weight. Yet that was logic he had built in the real world. Miu had not exactly gone into specifics, at least not before the others entered the virtual world. Yet Gonta was also someone who should not try using such a tenuous bridge.

“What are you staring at.” Maki’s voice was less startling than the fact she seemed to just appear like magic from a snowy white backdrop. Poor draw distance? Still, the angry glare was easy to interpret with the overlarge face and expression.

“I am unsure if this bridge is safe.”

“Or thinking to get us stuck over here?” Her question was colder than the air, even if baffled him.

“Stuck? I do not understand what you are implying, Maki.” The bridge might be the only way over, but surely that did not matter much?

Shuichi and Kaito popping into existence nearby robbed him of an answer, as she turned to watch them instead. Her lack of surprise did indicate that sort of action should be expected though. He really was going to need someone to explain this world better after all...someone that wasn’t Miu, it seemed.

“Oh hey Keebo! You find anything about Gonta out there?” Kaito’s voice was as it always was, loud and seemingly carefree. His avatar even had little lines coming from it. If only all humans were as easy to read.

“I did not find much, no. Even his cause of death is a mystery. Did any of you find any clues?”

Maki’s face remained stony, and even Shuichi’s avatar seemed hesitant to respond judging by the trailing dots above his head. “There hasn’t been much in the virtual world. I did notice something in the computer room.”

“You did? What was it? Miu did not bring anything up.” Well, of course Shuichi would be the one to find even the smallest clue.

“Gonta’s helmet had the wires hooked up incorrectly. I’m not sure if that mattered all that much-but it is a possibility something went wrong.”

Hm. The avatar’s lack of body language did make it somewhat harder to tell if Shuichi was confident in that fact, or still mulling over it. His hands were often a tell. “So it might have been nothing but an accident?”

“Don’t be stupid. There was a body discovery announcement.”

“Woah, Maki-Roll!” Kaito’s avatar seemed to move a bit closer to Maki’s, but failed to throw a stubby arm over her shoulder. Really, it just looked weird, a sort of jittering in place. “We should believe in each other before believing what Monokuma says, y’know?”

“You’re such an idiot, Kaito.” Her face remained irritated.

“Hey! I’m not an idiot! Back me up here Shuichi!”

“Ah-um.” The detective hesitated, looking at both of them before choosing to cross the bridge instead of answering.

The raincloud over Kaito’s head did seem to spur Shuichi into changing his mind, though not until both Kaito and Maki joined the robot on the other side of the bridge. “Maki’s just considering all the possibilities Kaito. You might be right too.”

“Course I am! We all agreed not to play along with Monokuma anymore, so we aren’t!” A laugh followed, though no one seemed keen to join in.

“Are you feeling alright so far Kaito?” Keebo asked, trying to find a way to change the subject.

“Course I do! Heck, I can’t even feel the sleepiness from this morning since we logged in.” He paused. “Why? You feel off or somethin Keebo?”

That answer was...strange. Forced? “No, I am perfectly fine, as one would expect.” He tried to get an idea of what was going on from the other two, but neither avatar seemed willing to meet his gaze. “Though it is kind of you to ask.”

“No prob. There’s not much over at the church, sidekicks and I are gonna check out the manor again then get out of here.”

His bafflement must have been obvious. Get out of here? “But-”

The astronaut had no intentions to listen, walking past without missing a beat. “Come on guys! No sidekicks of mine slack when there’s work to do!”

Maki and Shuichi didn’t seem to have the heart to correct him, a brief glance shared between them before they chased after Kaito.

Had they-had they not told Kaito he was dead? Though it didn’t feel quite right. He would have to ask them. Later. When Kaito was not there. No wonder none of them had brought up Maki’s close call, if that was what was going on…  
Following them would just be awkward, so taking the time to check out the so-called chapel made sense. Even if it was just a mess of seemingly unimportant items. How were they meant to find out how the gentle giant had died if they did not even have a body to examine? Why had he been able to log Gonta out, but not Kaito? If the switched wires had created problems when logging out-he could only hope that was not the case. Surely there was another logical explanation to the difference between them.  
That he did not want to dwell on. He stared at the towering black wall, wishing it could be like some sort of game character and give them a hint. Miu couldn’t have lied about the virtual world being safe, surely. Even if it did seem logical at first thought. Where they had died might matter just as much as how it had occurred.

“Just trust me guys, it’s fine!”

Kaito? He turned, but couldn't see his avatar. It did not sound like it had come from behind him, but in front of him was a wall. The endpoint of this virtual world. Was there a second Kaito stuck beyond the bounds of the world? No- he was clearly speaking to someone. He could accept there might be a second Kaito, due to his odd status of alive and dead at once, but Maki and Shuichi being duplicated didn’t have any basis. This was something else.  
Curse this body’s short arms. Reaching out to touch it brought him closer to it than he really felt comfortable being. When it offered no resistance, he could only yelp and pull his hand back. It ate his hand! Temporarily, anyway. If this wall was the end of the world, he shouldn’t be able to just pass through it. Like sound possibly had? It could be dangerous, but his inner voice insisted he was correct in not dismissing it.  
Walking into a wall should be uncomfortable due to a collision. Yet there was no impact, no alert to his brain suggesting he should not go smacking into things for no reason. Just an eerie darkness that only spanned four large steps.

He could see the mansion again. Which was supposedly impossible. By walking through a wall? Yet no one had mentioned warps or teleports. Maki’s concern about getting them ‘stuck’ on the other side would make no sense if you could just teleport back by doing something inadvisable. Miu wasn’t hiding anything important, this was just a glitch. Let it be a glitch. Even if the unlikeliness of that was becoming unignorable. He needed to discuss this with Miu, privately if possible. Things were tense enough without jumping to conclusions, and if he accused her of something that was just a quirk of the virtual world he would do nothing but look like a desperate killer trying to shift the blame on a friend.

Judging by the lack of Kaito and the others in the immediate vicinity, they were likely to be on the roof by how well the shout carried. He couldn’t really see up past the sloped roof to confirm it from this angle. Though they could be anywhere near the manor, really. Kaito could be impressively audible at times.

A second search proved fruitless. There wasn’t anything that struck him as dangerous, nothing set strangely askew or otherwise looked out of place. The squiggle line on the map seemed to match up to where Maki had just appeared without being visible in the distance, though the purpose eluded him. The fact the walls were on the map did suggest switching locations might be unintended behaviour at least. Except the path...looked ridiculous. Why would you have a path that connected to nothing and went nowhere?

“Keebo? Can you tell me where you were yesterday?”

Shuichi’s question shoved the map out of the robot’s mind, turning and nodding quickly. “Of course. I spent most of my time in my lab, prior to that I was keeping an eye on Gonta. Kokichi would likely have gotten up to mischief otherwise.” He frowned. “I understand that does not sound very comprehensive, but I did not leave or see anyone until I returned to the dormitory.”

“Well it matches what I’ve heard so far.” The detective looked lost in his thoughts for a moment, staring at the stairs Kaito and Maki had gone down. “Do you think you could ask Miu something for me?”

Shuichi had hesitated so long to ask something so obvious? “I could do so easily enough. I do not see why you could not ask yourself?”

His avatar flushed red “Ah well, yeah I can. It’s more- I think Miu might think about it more if you ask her?”

“I suppose I do spend more time with her than most of you do, on average.” That didn’t really clear up what embarrassed the detective so much about the request. “What did you want to ask her?”

“Well, she’s the Ultimate Inventor, and she was able to figure out how the virtual world worked. So I was wondering if she might be able to do something.” He hesitated, more interested in the floor than anything else. “ For Kaito, I mean.”

“Like invent a way for him to access more than this virtual world?” It did seem like something Miu could manage. Yet there was no guarantee Kaito would remain here safely either. It wasn’t as if he understood how that helmet interfaced with the human mind. Or his own mind, for that matter. “This still sounds like something you could ask. We are all friends, after all and Kaito’s situation is...unfortunate. You had her create those cameras, did you not?”

“Well, Kaede was the one who convinced her, really. I was just kinda there.”

Oh. The robot looked away, hoping the memory had not upset his friend unduly. Kaede certainly had the drive to convince all of them to keep pushing forward, he should have realized that Shuichi had not been the one asking exactly. “Well, I can certainly try. Has he been acting strangely at all?”

“I’m not sure. He’s definitely trying to act fine...but I don’t want to press him too much. That’s more Maki’s job.”

“So you did tell him?”

“Y-Yeah. The occult kind of freaks him out, so I think he’s denying it so he can focus on helping us look around really.” Shuichi let out a long sigh, as if trying to force the tension out of his lungs. “I think not being trapped away from everyone might help, at least.”

“I would expect so. He is very socially motivated. You are sure his behaviour is still normal though?” Keebo scowled a bit, “I do not trust this computer of all things to accurately support a human mind on it’s own. It is one thing if it is simply drawing on your brains, it is quite another for it to do all the work.”

“Well, that’s what you do with your AI, sort of?”

“My body is far superior to this over-large excuse for a computing tower. Not to mention I was designed for it.” The insult made him tense a little. ”And I am not just a copy of some human brain patterns. I am my own, unique person Shuichi. Just like all of you.”

The stubby arms raised in placation, sweat drops springing from the blue haired avatar. “Right, sorry about that. I’m just worried about Kaito. You’re still going to ask, right?”

“Of course. If it would help Kaito, it is worth pursuing. I doubt she would have time to make anything before the trial, however.”

“Huh- oh. I wasn’t expecting her to finish that quickly.” He shook his head before turning to head down the stairs.

“So you do not suspect Miu?”

He didn’t stop moving, but answered. “Well, everyone’s a suspect.”

That wasn’t exactly a no. So who did Shuichi suspect? How did the detective always seem to be two steps ahead of everyone? A more useful Ultimate talent than most, in this messed up game. Not that he should think of it that way. That’s what Monokuma wanted.

It was more than past time to leave this place. He appeared in that...the map called it a ‘salon’, right? The muffled voices he could hear seemed to be coming from there. Eavesdropping was still rude. Not that he refrained from keeping back a little to try and catch on to what was being said anyway.

”...trust him. Are you sure you’ll be fine alone?”

“Of course! No one can harm-”

“Someone already did, you idiot! Stop playing brave!” Maki’s frustration sounded strange, almost watery in a way.

“I need to check a few things, but Maki seems fine with waiting with you.”

“Don’t be silly guys. You go find Gonta’s killer. There isn’t much time y’know?”

“He’s the detective. I don’t need to leave.”

Did she still think he might try and kill Kaito? Well. Not kill, exactly. Or was it an excuse to spend more time with the positive space lover?

“Ah, you gotta go to the trial though Maki roll! I can look after stuff here, I need both of my sidekicks to do their best!”

Keebo couldn’t catch what else was said, the responses too low. The much louder noise, some sort of game teleporter noise did indicate the pair had left, however. So the way to leave was in there. Yet Kaito had not left the room, even as he waited.

The astronaut was wrong. That was the only way he could think to describe it. Still, avatar’s face distorted in some mess of fear and sadness. Eye shapes kept flickering, and he was unable to decide if the face was shaking more or less than the rest of him just trembling in place. No words, until he noticed Keebo had entered the room. His attempt to snap back to the cheerful, normal Kaito was almost even more disturbing than the emotional wreck he had spotted.

“Oh hey! Find anything?”

“Only that you seem to be unwell.”

Kaito flinched. “Eh? What’cha talkin about Keebo? Nothing keeps-”

“You are pretending to be fine. While you are dead. I do not see the point in doing this.” He stared at the purple haired avatar, not bothering to try and mask his confusion. “If there is something wrong, it should be addressed. If this computer is struggling to sustain you-”

“What? No- I’m just FINE.” He insisted, though the cartoony form made what might have been a frightening display of anger look rather funny. “Nothing’s changed!”

He did not seem fine in the slightest. “Quite a few things have changed? Are you having difficulty accessing your emotions, perhaps?” It might explain the weird flickering, or the outbursts. “I know it took me a long time to start understanding them-”

“I’m not like you! I’m fine, you just don’t get it, okay? Just go help Shuichi and the others already.”

“I know you are not.” Still, the venom in those words still stung a bit. “Yet you may be processing thoughts differently now. I could understand if that was confusing, or distressing. Or offer some help.” Though he wasn’t quite sure if Kaito would have the same awareness of his computerized mind as Keebo had of his own, it could be worth looking into.

“Nope. I’ve got it. Thanks though.”

He was a very, very poor liar. He could practically hear Kokichi cackling about how obvious it was. “If you insist. I am glad you are still alive in a sense.”

“Course I am! What kind of hero just up and dies on their sidekicks?” Kaito seemed to get back into the swing of things, back to seeming like a perfectly content little avatar/

“Ah, I’m not attempting to doubt you Kaito, but you are not having any trouble learning anything, right?” Kaito wasn’t an AI. Did the computer know how to retain and learn like the human brain could?

“Uh, no? Why would I?”

“You are not not like me, as you said. I was concerned you might struggle to process and retain new information.”

“That’s kinda messed up man. I’m fine, okay?”

Whoever thought of the phrase ‘arguing with a brick wall’ had clearly not met Kaito, for he was fairly sure he would have more success in convincing a brick wall. “You will be fine if Miu can manage to make a way for you to see reality again?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I can handle anything, you know?”

“Like the others looking at you strangely? Like knowing you do not fit in with them anymore?” Annoyance pushed the words out before he could really consider how poorly Kaito might take it.

“Hey, I still totally fit in! You worry too much, Keebo.”

“Perhaps. I expect it should be something you should prepare for. You may not feel different, but that does not mean you will not be treated differently.” Why wouldn’t Kaito just listen about this?

Though something must have hit a sore spot, fear darkening the usually cheerful face. He opened his mouth to speak, but the sound from before summoned a weird light under the robot’s feet. He did not have time to ask what it was before the world went black again.

Something was kneeling on his chest plate and shaking his head.

“Wakey-wakey! I wanted to let Monokuma just kill ya for not coming buuuuuut that seemed boring.”

Keebo scowled at the voice, shoving the helmet off. Had the pest knocked him on to the floor before waking him up? “I doubt Miu needed your help to get me back here.”

“Huuuh? What about her? She’s the one who just left here when the announcement played! Silly robot.” Kokichi finally got up, snickering as he headed off. “You’re welcomeeeee Keeboy!”

This was just a prank he was playing, right? Of course it was. Just in case- he didn’t actually believe the lie, but he was going to head to the trial area. It had to be announced soon anyway. He was only halfway down the stairs when a harried looking Tsumugi nearly sprinted into him.

“Oh good! I was just plain worried Kokichi was trying to stop you from coming.” She adjusted her glasses, all urgency seeming to leave her. “Did you learn anything about who killed poor Gonta?”

“I am not sure yet.” He admitted, the cold prickling sensation uncomfortable in his chest. “Thank you for making sure I did not break a rule, Tsumugi.” The cosplayer did not spend much time with him, yet seemed to be a good strong friend when it counted.

...So why didn’t Miu wake him up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fdljfs sorry for slow updates.  
> Hopefully this one is interesting/looking forward to trial.   
> i bet most people already have good and correct theories xD


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We have two murders to solve...

The statue had already retreated when Tsumugi and Keebo made it to the gathering place, the cosplayer panting with the speed they’d taken the stairs at. The entry was still open, but the others hadn’t waited up.

“Plainly they were in a hurry- but we made it! Phew! Anime makes running like that look easy.”

“I do not see why they could not have waited a bit longer.” Maybe Tsumugi didn’t mind being left behind, but he didn’t want to die over something so easily prevented. Surely not all of them still thought he did this?

The lack of reaction as they boarded the elevator was normal. No one wanted to talk as the claustrophobic box dragged them slowly down to the trial room. The tension was easy to spot, now that he knew how to look for it. The uneasy footing Himiko had as she rocked from side to side, or how Shuichi kept pulling his hands near his face. Both Miu and Tsumugi kept messing with their hair, though the inventor seemed to be hiding it more, or at least trying to stop doing it as much. Maki looked liable to punch the door of the elevator off if anyone said anything. Rantaro-or perhaps Angie was completely still in comparison, expression blank, something he normally chalked up to Kokichi’s flippant lack of care. Seeing that on someone who believed him to be innocent was worrisome, honestly. 

There was little time to ponder when the door rumbled open to show the courtroom, all of them moving quickly to get to their ‘places’. As if rushing could make the whole thing be over with faster.

“Alright. If you confess right now to killing Kaito, I’ll kill you so you can’t get executed.” Maki’s cold voice was unexpecting, earring stares from all her classmates and the onlooker bears.

“Oh? No violence in my courtroom missy! Only I get to deal out punishments!” Monokuma sounded angry enough, but did not move from his seated position.

Monotaro did jump up to add his unnecessary two cents. “Yeah! He worked real hard on the executions! Even I can’t forget that!”

“Who’d be fuckin stupid enough to admit it if you’ll kill them? You got a gun for a brain?”

“I’d make it quick. Even if you don’t deserve it.”

Miu backed down quickly with the matter of fact response, leaning closer to the robot’s side of the podium. “Kaito’s just as nuts as she is for trusting some assassin, you know.”

Keebo didn’t respond, fighting to keep the confusion off of his face. Miu just left him behind but was happy to talk to him now? All of this felt wrong.

“Ah- Maki. I don’t think-” Shuichi tried to be heard over the quiet mutterings between groups of students, but couldn’t get far.

“Woooow! What a cool way to throw suspicion off yourself Miss Assassin! I’m sure everyone totally fell for it!” Kokichi’s large grin stayed in place even as Maki’s neck twisted so she could glare at him. “We all know you were so sick of Kaito and all his believing stuff. Cus you’re an emotionless killing machine!”

“Shut up.”

“She doesn’t even care about-aabout” He paused for a dramatic intake of air before wailing. “POOR GONTA!”

“Okay, okay. No one’s confessing, right?” Rantaro cut in, ignoring the snuffling dramatic sobs nearby. “That’s fine, we’ll get to the bottom of this with a bit of work.”

“You’re fuckin way too comfortable for this shit, just cus you got to skip out on most of them doesn’t make you some genius!”

“Aha, I never said I was a genius. We’ll need your help too Miu. You know the most about the virtual world after all.” He remained unruffled, having a stillness that still looked strange. Angie was always so energetic in comparison.

Shuichi seemed a bit surprised that someone besides him was directing everyone to the point of the trial, but recovered enough to speak again. “Miu, why did you say it was safe? Kaito might have been poisoned, but we don’t know anything about what happened to Gonta.”

“B-Because it IS safe, limp dick! Kaidolt was poisoned,I don’t know what fucking happened to treedick!”

“That’s odd, I thought you said you had an idea when I pointed out the helmets to you.”

Miu gripped the edge of her platform, looking away from the eyes of her fellow students. “Well okay! It is safe, if you follow the instructions! I-I guess Gonta was too stupid and plugged them in the wrong way…I didn’t think it’d be that big a deal okay?”

“Gonta dying from a mistake like that just isn’t fair! He was paying attention, I saw him repeating the right way to do it!” Tsumugi insisted, trying to catch the inventor’s gaze with an intensity the plain girl rarely showed.

“Gonta’s left handed. It’s possible if he was listening to Himiko, following her example would have made him switch the wires.” Rantaro still sounded too calm, not even pointing to the mage as he accused her of possibly being connected.

“H-Huh? I didn’t know he was left handed! I wouldn’t hurt Gonta on purpose!”

Kokichi spang on the opening in an instant. “Oh you better not have! That’s my job, sister!”

“It’s fine, we’re just speculating why it might have happened. Are you certain that was the only thing that could have harmed Gonta?” Rantaro pressed again, the seriousness wrong and off putting on a normally smiling face.

“Yeah, of fucking course it was! Everything else was perfect! No weapons, no glitches, no nuthin survived my golden brain, get it?”

Yet that wasn’t true, was it? He knew he’d just walked through a wall in the virtual world, and no one had brought anything like that up. Did it really matter? Part of him wanted to get answers, but logically it wasn’t the right choice. They had to find Kaito’s killer first, to survive. If he brought something up like this now, they might see it as him making things up, or trying to shift the blame. It had to wait. His inner voice agreed, but part of him still wanted to speak out. That this wasn’t right.

“So we can get back to Kaito. Do we have any idea when he was poisoned?” Maki spoke firmly, pushing the issue of Gonta aside.

“I might have an idea, but it hinges on if you and Kaito were poisoned at the same time. In fact, I don’t think Kaito was the target at all.”

“Explain.” Even Shuichi wasn’t spared with a warmer look, the single syllable more a command than a question.

“Well, you said it yourself.’ Everyone tries to kill you’ eventually once they find out you’re an assassin, right? You’d been poisoned, and seemed pretty calm when I was worried about all the blood you spat out.”

“I know the symptoms of poisoning when I have them. But that theory doesn’t work.” She scowled, arms crossed. “Kaito wasn’t bleeding from the mouth like I was. If they screwed up and accidentally poisoned him, he should have the same symptoms before death.”

“Weeeell there was a bit of blood! Just not as much as the showoff assassin.”

“He’s been coughing, it’s unrelated.”

“Oh okay!” Kokichi backed off immediately, to a set of confused stares. “What? Kaito barking like a dog is totally like him!”

“I don’t think that’s what Maki meant…” Tsumugi mumbled. “But one thing has been plain bugging me. Keebo, why did you have that antidote anyway? Did Angie have a warning from Atua?”

He froze, unsure how to answer. The truth was easy enough, but it might sound like an excuse if it came from him. “Well I- That is to say-”

“I told him to.” Rantaro cut his stammered attempts short. “I found a suspicious looking bottle in Angie’s coat. I wasn’t sure what it was, so I got him to help me out.”

Relief was an odd emotion, but feeling like some weight on his back had slid away gave him enough confidence to explain further. “I knew there was a substance that shouldn’t be in a beverage, so I checked it against the poisons in Shuichi’s lab. As it was a clear danger, I took the corresponding antidote as well.”

“And the two of you decided to just hide this from everyone.”

“Of course. I was hoping whatever Angie had was all she used. If it was, worrying everyone over an event that couldn’t happen now would just get us stressed out.” Rantaro’s easy answer was baffling. Keebo felt Maki’s accusation of wrongdoing like a smack to his head, while the bodysnatcher seemed completely unphased by it. He did raise his hands in a placating gesture, however. “I can see I was wrong, I didn’t think there might be more than one person targeted. Honestly, I doubt Angie remembered she had to hide any murder plans from me, too.”

“Or it was your murder plan and you tried to pin it on Angie while she can’t defend herself?” The blue haired cosplayer suggested, leaning forward. “It’s just plain suspicious, Angie wanted us to all live in peace and the moment she’s gone two people die?”

“If that was his plan, why tell me at all? All that did was keep me on the lookout for a murder attempt.” The robot frowned, unsure why he hadn’t really considered that as an option.

“Cus you’re a dumb robot that can be an easy alibi? Oh I bet he convinced you real good that keeping quiet was more logical, right?”

“I am average, not dumb! That, and I did prevent one death, even if I could not do anything for Kaito or Gonta. If he really wanted to distract me by telling me, why show me the correct poison?” His argument was logical enough, yet it was still bothering him. He was meant to be good at considering possibilities, but he had ignored any involving Rantaro entirely. Well, none had lasted more than an initial consideration. From trust? Why would he just trust someone ‘back from the dead’ that kept saying confusing things? His inner voice certainly trusted him- but maybe it was wrong?

“Actually, I do want to know about that. The poison used had the label scraped off.” The detective spoke up, redirecting the conversation. “I think the killer wanted to hide something about it.”

“Well it wasn’t the fuckin symptoms! Fuckking spewing blood is pretty fuckin obvious to even you dipshits!” Miu ‘helpfully’ added.

“It was already damaged by the time I found it, so I cannot help much.”

“Or you could just ask the assassin what it does. Since she probably killed people with it before!”

Maki glared at Kokichi’s attempt to provoke her, but didn’t waste time denying it. “The name is nonsense. Monokuma probably made it up. If I knew what it was, I’d say so.”

“So we can’t rule out if it was a different poison or not…” The detective muttered, looking lost in thought.

“Hey, Monokuma. I thought you liked being fair?”

“I’m very fair! It isn’t my fault if you kids get outsmarted, you know. If it’s too tricky for your rotting brain, you can go back to being dead, okaaaaaaaaay?” The bear robot scoffed, relaxing in his chair.

“You let the killer hide everything about the poison, and only told us it was poisoning. The fact the Ultimate Assassin doesn’t recognize it by name alone seems a bit too weighted in the killer’s favour, don’t you think?” Rantaro barely reacted, only the slightest twitch at the ‘being dead’ remark.

“No way! We even put the name back! You’re just dumb dumbs.” Monotaro piped up, before pausing. “We did put the name back, right?”

“What fucking good is a name if the murder expert doesn’t fukkin know it? More useless than Shuichi’s balls, that’s what!”

“The fact it was important enough that they had to put it back is all that matters, really.” The bodysnatcher waited, as if expecting Shuichi to say something, but the detective still looked distracted, or possibly still flustered by Miu’s last remark. “It reminded me of a saying I heard in my travels.”

“I am not sure how a saying would help us determine facts about a poison. Even if Monokuma thought we should know it?” Apparently there were dots that needed connecting, but none of them made any sense. What good was a name like ‘Twice Shy’ anyway?

“Once bitten, twice shy? Is that what you’re thinking of?” The detective seemed hesitant, as if too distracted by thinking about it to be the more commanding presence he often ended up being.

“Exactly.Maki, would it be possible for a poison to not be lethal in the first encounter with it, but would be the second time?”

“That’d be a pretty stupid way to assasinate someone.” She rolled her eyes, sighing and rubbing at her forehead. “If you get a dosage wrong, people survive. But you can slowly kill someone over time with stuff in their food, sure. Which we’d probably notice.”

“Uh oh, do we get to accuse Himiko again? If you keep this up it’s gonna get old!”

The mage rose to the bait, even if she really should know better by now. “Maki didn’t say anything about me!”

“Oh? She must be talking about the OTHER person who just randomly decided to give us food when they’re too lazy to pretend to care about Tenko usually!” His snide grin had Himiko red in the face, hands trembling in fists.

Yet Maki interrupted before she could protest. “If she poisoned everyone, we’d all be dead. Stop wasting everyone’s time.”

“...Not if the first dose was harmless until the killing one was given. That’s what you were getting at with the name, and the time?” Shuichi’s eyes flicked over to Rantaro, who nodded.

“Well, Angie’s student council would do whatever she said right? The others prep, and she can personally get rid of whoever is causing ‘problems’.”

“Kaito wasn’t causing problems, that’s just stupid.”

Shuichi looked uncomfortable, looking at the ground. “Kaito wasn’t the target, remember? You were the one dying of it.”

“Angie wouldn’t do that! I would not poison someone, even if she had asked me to. I am certain the others would not have either.” He had to interject, to at least show they were not blindly listening. They only acted for everyone’s good, not just one person.

“I could never! That and I was stuck watching Miu most of the time, which was just plain boring.”

“Gonta would totally do it. But he’s dead and I didn’t see him do it so guess that’s not it.” Kokichi shrugged. “Hey Keeboy, do you even know the difference between food and poison?”

“Of course I do! What a ridiculous question!”

“Well you do eat like oil and scrap being a robot and all.”

“I do neither of these things! I run on electricity, I have already told you this! If you were not such a robophobe, you would remember that!”

“Himiko? Did Angie ask you to do something?” The calm voice asked in the gap between their bickering, the weirdness of ‘Angie’ asking that question even more disquieting. Even if it wasn’t actually Angie at the moment.

“Huh? Angie asked all of us to do stuff, what does it matter? I passed out the notes, that’s all.” The mage mumbled, tugging at the edges of her hat. “Poisoning people is wrong, I’m not stupid, just sleepy...”

“Rantaro’s just wasting our fucking time! He did it and is just trying to pin it on the god slut.”

“Uh, Miu? Rantaro would die if Angie was executed too. That is not a very intelligent plan if he wanted to shift the blame.”

“So? He’s the dipshit who got killed by Kaede of all people! He’s no genius!”

Well, she wasn’t wrong exactly. It seemed irrelevant to the subject at hand, but the inventor did have a tendency to just say whatever she wanted. Or was she just trying to distract them? No one suspected her though, not now. Not with Gonta’s death possibly being explained already. Tsumugi gave her a fairly solid alibi for Kaito, and she always had been rather loud about being in the computer lab.

“Well if you have a better lead, I’d like to hear it.

“That’s uh-well obviously Shuichi wanted Kaito and Maki to fuck off already and just poisoned them!

“Nyeh..you’re just saying stuff now. You shoulda just said Kiyo came back from the dead and did it if you’re gonna make up something that unbelievable...”

“Betrayal after bonding through workouts? I guess Shuichi is the quiet one of the group, they are the sneaky ones.” Tsumugi seemed to be considering it, earning a few baffled looks. “In a manga maybe, not here!”

“I would have noticed if Shuichi tried anything. He’s not that subtle.”

“Um. Thanks?” The blue haired detective looked unsure how to take the ‘alibi’. “If we’re assuming the killer poisoned Kaito and Maki, it is more likely it was someone on the student council after that argument yesterday.”

“We already went over how none of us would willingly poison anyone. We wanted peace, not more killing. Why do you think Angie tried to show you there was no reason to escape?”

“We only have that little purple turd’s word that Gonta wasn’t hiding poison! No way am I trustin his word when it might get us killed!”

“So we should ask his corpse? Great idea Miu! Let us know when you invent a brain cell that works for you, okay?” He scoffed, rolling his eyes before continuing. “You mean, the sham paintings that really convinced you, right? The ones she just ‘decided’ to cover up?”

“That did stand out as odd. I wanted to double check something, but I couldn’t.” Shuichi admitted, even though the way he bit at his thumb showed his hesitance to agree with Kokichi on anything.

“Does it really matter? We still have the photographs, and I know what I saw. It was too accurate to something Angie couldn’t possibly know to be a coincidence.”

“Gods don’t exist! Why the hell do I have to keep saying this to a robot?”

“I know it sounds illogical, but I can understand her hearing from another voice Miu. You do not need to be so angry about it.” He frowned, feeling the need to cross his arms as if it could ward her strange insistence that it was ‘weird’ away.

“I think Angie hid the originals for a reason. She didn’t want us stumbling across them later, because we would know they weren’t original works of art.”

“Huh? Of course they were original, right from Atua! Angie wouldn’t lie about that to us.” Himiko looked offended, and Tsumugi had a similar look of disbelief. This only seemed to amuse the resident troublemaker who began snickering.

“Actually, it’s really easy to tell if it’s something Angie made, or something she copied. Anything she makes herself makes you pass out until you’re used to it. I know it sounds weird, but it does happen.”

“I’ve had it happen too, weirdly enough.” Rantaro added, shrugging. “You’d think I’d be immune, but apparently not.”

“I do not understand. She copied what? Why would she bother?” It did seem likely if she hid the originals that there was a reason for it, but copying? Why would she want to make up the fact the world was in shambles?

“Angie was the one who took the motive card.” Maki spoke up, eyes narrowing at the remaining council members. “She tried to use whatever that bear made for a motive make us believe there’s nothing to go back to.”

Monokuma had shown he knew a disturbing amount about them at times. It made a small spark of hope race through his chest. If it came from Monokuma, that scene, that destruction and loss of his home and the professor could be fake, just a motivator to kill, right? Though it would mean Angie tried to use a motive to control them...or believed it herself? How could they be sure?

“And when we wouldn’t believe it, she killed Kaito to make us fall in line.” Maki’s hands balled into fists, frustration left with nowhere to go with Angie technically not present.

“I think you were the target all along still. With Gonta around, you were the only one who could stand up to Angie. Kaito’s a good motivator, but I don’t think he could do much if she forced the issue.” He looked uncomfortable to bring it up again, but it did make an odd amount of sense.

“Then why did Keebo save me instead of Kaito when he messed up?”

“Hey! I did not poison anyone. I did not mess anything up. You were bleeding, of course I tried to help you! I do not like seeing any of my friends hurt.” He objected, but felt an odd sense of foreboding. Did Maki still think he had poisoned both her and Kaito? Wasn’t that illogical? “Just because I was alone at that time does not mean the poisoning did not occur before then.”

“You’re all making Angie sound like some sort of monster! All she’s doing is helping us!” Himiko objected, angrily looking around the room. “Where’s your proof anyway? There could be lots of reasons for hiding the paintings, they were upsetting!”

“So what were you asked to do other than hand out the notes Himiko? If all of you say exactly what was written down, it could clear a few things up.”

Could it? His just sounded like nonsense to anyone who didn’t know much about his lab. If it helped clear this up though...but Miu might know what it meant, and it made his arm twinge again. Maybe Tsumugi could talk first.

“Wooooow, look how silent they are in their guilt! Maybe Monokuma can just get rid of all of em and we can go do something more fun!”

“We’ll all die if we don’t get to the bottom of this. So just speak up, alright guys? We aren’t going to judge you.” Rantaro prompted again, earning a few scoffs.

“Don’t speak for me, worm food! If you were plotting to kill us I am judging the FUCK out of you!”

That was not reassuring in the slightest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> where was the update?  
> buried under me playing too much genshin impact. my apologies.  
> Hopefully the logic leadup was okay? Trials are weird really. Sorry for the wait >>


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial continues

“We aren’t accusing anyone yet. Just be honest so we can work out what happened yesterday.”

Miu’s sneer shattered Rantaro’s call for calm. “Says the fucker that wasn’t even here.”

“There isn’t much I can do about only being aware half the time. Once we go over what Angie told everyone to do, we can discuss what she was doing too.”

“You’re freakier than god’s whore! At least act like you care about dying!”

Rantaro’s smile looked strained, a hand looking for a ring he did not have. “I care, of course. I’m just more interested in everyone living. If Angie is behind it...well I’ve already got more practice in the being dead thing anyway.”

The inventor cringed, falling silent instead of yelling out some new profanity. It was much easier to just accept the whole situation as some weird ‘thing’, instead of thinking too hard about how Rantaro had been killed in the first place.

“Umm. I mostly watched Shuichi and Maki work out...and Kaito napping. And delivered the messages.” Himiko was the only one brave enough to answer first, though she was speaking more to the floor. “I don’t think Angie would do anything like what you’re saying though.”

“Wellllll you only think about that dead girl you hated, so you probably just missed Angie’s a nutcase.” Kokichi shrugged, leaning back as Himiko suddenly jerked forward with a furious expression.

“You take that back you-you jerk! I didn’t hate Tenko and Angie isn’t a nutcase!” You’re the nutcase! You keep being nasty to everyone when we’re stuck living here! Stupid!”

“Or what Himiko? You’re gonna curse me with your mmaaaaagic? Maybe for your next trick you can bring Tenko back too!”

“I HATE you! I’d make you disappear but that’s too good for you!”

“You are simply slowing us down, Kokichi. If you are not going to contribute, you can be silent.” Keebo spoke up, the way the magician’s eyes watered was making him uncomfortable. The trial was bad enough without him being a pest.

“But I am helping! I said where Gonta was! Y’know, before Shuichi asked, unlike all the rest of you suspicious cultists. Well, cultists and trash can.”

“Your insults are nonsensical and your defense is just as useless. You say I am unable to read a room, but you cannot even communicate without being irritating.”

“Uh huh. Nice way to pretend you said what you were doing and hope no one cared enough what some hunk of junk was up to yesterday.”

“I was not doing that at all!” His hand clenched, frustration making him want to speak before considering the best phrasing. Yet that could be dangerous, he did not want to mislead his friends, or have them worried over nothing. “Angie only requested I install an upgrade from my lab. I do not have Miu’s skill, so it took me the rest of the day.”

“Eh? Which ones? You said you didn’t wanna screw around with em with me but you went and did alone? Why’d ya blue ball me Keebs?”

“You said you were busy with that computer. I did not want to interrupt you” He felt his face heat up, knowing Miu absolutely meant to make it sound lewd when it was nothing of the sort

“Was it a dick? Do robots have dicks now?”

“Why would- I am not even entertaining that question!”. He tried to not sound as embarrassed as he felt, but the shouting probably gave him away. “We are getting off topic!”

“We are. Well Tsumugi? What were you asked to do?” Shuichi’s voice practically dripped with exhaustion, pointedly looking away from where Kokichi was standing.

“Oh, I didn’t have to do anything but keep watching Miu. Angie mentioned she might want me to do something, but I guess she just plain forgot to say what exactly.” The cosplayer shrugged, frowning. “If only Gonta had me help instead of Kokichi, he deserved better friends…”

“Something? You don’t have any idea what that something might have been?” Maki’s cold tone made the blue haired girl flinch a little.

“Well no- I was meant to go get it in the evening but Angie was gone by then. Body switching is way more confusing in real life than it looks in my animes...”

“What, the bitch wanted to hand off some poison to you but got thwarted because fuckkin green pubes showed up?”

“No! That’s plain ridiculous, Atua doesn’t call for violence. I’m sure she had something peaceful to show me, or a request!” She seemed to shake a little, looking into nothing. “There’s no way Angie would want to get me to hurt someone…certainly not plain old me.”

“So it’s possible the bottle Rantaro found was meant to go to Tsumugi...but we don’t have any real proof. Are you sure she didn’t even suggest what you were picking up?” Shuichi ignored her obvious fear, pushing again. He seemed...more angry than usual, almost.

“I really have no idea...I’m sorry.”

“Woooow. Guess you’re just plain useless huh? Like always!”

“If we can’t determine if Angie planned something in advance, we just need to figure out how Kaito and Maki got poisoned.” Rantaro shook his head, paying no attention to the glare Kokichi sent his way for ignoring the troublemaker. “I know you said you don’t recognize the poison Maki, but do you think it could have been recent?”

The assassin frowned. “The name doesn’t even give me a way to guess what it is. I can’t say anything about it for sure. I should know when I’m poisoned, though. It’s happened often enough.” The shrug was casual, even if the comment was rather horrible. “I guess it was recent?”

“Well- I would not want to suggest such a thing, but have all of you felt a little off lately?” Keebo asked, his inner voice insisting it was a good idea to bring up. “I have noticed Kaito has seemed somewhat ill lately, is it possible it was not just Kaito and Maki who were poisoned?”

“Oooooh, are you admitting you poisoned everyone to bring everyone down to your weak inhuman level?”

“I am not! It is simply a possibility. If the name referred to how many doses were needed to be effective, surely it would be simpler to just poison all potential targets. If this was a long term plan, logically they would want more options.” Yet even after saying it he felt uncomfortable. It certainly seemed logical, and it could be possible- but he didn’t like thinking any of his friends would do something so deplorable. Maybe his inner voice had been wrong in entertaining that thought? No. It wasn’t a nice feeling, like a bit of metal bent at an angle twisted between the wires in his chest, that seemed to be telling him that was exactly what had occurred.

“Huh? But that’s just plain impossible. How could anyone do something like that without anyone noticing?” Tsumugi’s objection rang as hollow to his ear, but no one else seemed to think so.

“Well, you all consume food.” The robot shrugged, hoping Shuichi or Rantaro might catch on. He didn’t like...leading the others like this. It felt wrong, that he wasn’t doing something correctly by saying things without another leading the way.

Shuichi thankfully picked up the slack, his face a confusing mix of understanding and distress. “Himiko. Was making breakfast your idea? Or was it Angie’s?”

“Nyeh?

“I guess it really is impossible to go a trial without blaming the witch! We should have burned her like two trials ago.”

Maki’s voice called the picture of a snarling wolf to mind. “Shut up Kokichi.”

“I know it sounds bad, but we’re just ruling things out.”

“W-Well I wanted to do something nice, because Tenko would like it if everyone got along more…and wanted me to do stuff all the time instead of being sad...” She was barely audible, unwilling or unable to look up from the floor.

“Did Angie know you were trying to think of a way to help and suggested that as a way to do so?” It made the most sense to him, with Atua’s help Angie could be very perceptive about this sort of thing. Even if the debacle with the paintings possibly not being ‘Auta sent visions’ after all did cast a great deal into doubt.

“Speak up short ‘n flat, we don’t have all day!”

“Then don’t interrupt her, idiot.” Miu cringed as the assassin snapped at her, her mumbled complaints about being mean a pointless noise while everyone waited for the magician to clarify.

“Well...it was my idea.” She shuffled uncomfortably in place trying to ignore her podium was the center of attention. “Angie did kinda...say that might be the best thing to do though. I guess. But she didn’t do anything! She didn’t help me make it at all!” Her energy only seemed to return so she could defend Angie, getting louder in the face of skeptical looks. “And I wouldn’t hurt anyone so you can stop that! I just want everyone to be happy and safe here for Tenko and Angie and Atua!”

Still the detective stood firm. “So you’re sure she didn’t help after? Even just cleaning up for a little could give her time to think about it.” 

She hesitated before nodding enthusiastically. “I’m sure! No other person helped me!”

“Okay. So who else hasn’t felt good lately. Kaito was off, but hiding it.” Maki moved on, not bothering to look at the magician anymore.

“Well, Gonta said he was having trouble seeing ‘tiny bugs’ but I think that would mean he felt better than normal to stop seeing things?” Tsumugi suggested as she adjusted her glasses. “I felt a little icky but I thought it was like con ick. Only I’m not back home from the con yet. And didn’t get to see any nice prints-”

Maki had no time for Tsumuig’s rambling. “I’ve been fine. Next.”

“I’m fine. Well, I think I am. Being Angie always feels off.” Rantaro could only shrug.

“I guess I might have a headache? But that could be anything, I’m not sure it’s related.” Doubt crept into the detective’s face, eyes flicking between Tsumugi and Maki.

“HA! Feeling ill is an excuse to be lazy! I’ll sleep when I’m fuckin dead.”

“Um, Miu, we need to know if you felt worse than normal, not your poor sleep cycle right now. Even if you should reconsider your stance on sleeping, as you would die much more quickly without it.”

“Peh, you don’t get to lecture me after fuckkin moddin alone, jerkbot. Passin on this hot bod for some sad solo shit…”

He regretted trying to help immediately. “Please stop that.”

“I feel great! I only threw up three times instead of my usual five! No problems here!” Kokichi’s grating high pitched tone was almost welcome in that moment. Maybe if he’d been taking things seriously, he’d truly be appreciative for him speaking up.

Rantaro frowned, chin in hand as he considered. “That doesn’t tell us too much. So many maybes. Gonta is fairly attentive, did he mention feeling odd to you too Kokichi?”

“Eh? We give a shit about what big, dead and stupid thinks now?” ‘Gonta no see bug friends today!’ Like anyone cares about stuff he makes up.” He mimed Gonta’s words while hunched over, hand mouthing the words. “So helpful! Such proof! We totally all got poisoned because Gonta couldn’t see his widdle imagnawy fwends!”

“Don’t talk like that about Gonta!” Tsumugi fumed as the boy cackled at her dismay.

“Oh no! She’s gonna set her imaginary friends on me next! What ever shall I do?”

“I think I’d rather trust in what Gonta said than Kokichi’s exaggerating.” Shuichi said, barely suppressing a sigh. “Himiko, I need you to be honest here. I don’t want to think you’d poison everyone. I want to believe you when you said you wanted to help everyone. You really didn’t have any help?”

“Silly detective! Himiko said no person helped her!”

Oh no. He wasn’t-of course he was going to do this. Why wouldn’t Kokichi take an obvious chance to sow confusion?

“But not everyone here’s a person, now are they?”

Keebo knew he’d made a frustrated noise, out of habit more than anything else. “Stop implying I am not a person. It is incredibly robophobic of you.”

“Huh? But I didn’t Keeboy! I just said somebody who wasn’t a person, you’re the one who got all offended because you knew you’re not one like everyone else!” His smirk only irritated the robot further. “Besides it was Himiko who used that wording, so obviously she agrees. She’s real sweet, not immediately ratting you out though!” He paused, apparently deep in thought. “Or would it be mousing you out? ‘Cus computers have mice ‘n all?”

“You two, clear up how much of that we have to pretend we care about.” Maki ordered, making Himiko jump a little as the robot simply glared at Kokichi some more.

“Yes, I helped Himiko. I was always the first to leave and I did not return. Nor did I spot Himiko doing anything untoward when I was present.” He tried to sound confident, but even he knew the excuse sounded flimsy.

“He’s always awake anyway...but no one likes metal in food so he had to keep quiet about it…” Himiko mumbled, apparently unwilling to look at the robot. “Neither of us did anything, honest!”

“It does mean both of you agree Himiko was the only one alone in the kitchen for any length of time.” The detective frowned, eyes closed as he considered. “Neither of you brought it up to blame the other either. It’s strange.”

“Even though Himiko totally has proof the robot was in the kitchen. Messy oil spitter leaves weird stains on stuff, did ya know that?”

“I do not run on oil! Those marks were from heat, not a grease stain! I told you that already, when you found it.”

“No one cares Keebo.”

Well, he was very sure he cared, but he didn’t bother trying to argue with an assassin.

“I think I might have an idea on why this happened-but there’s still some holes to work out.” Shuichi didn’t sound as certain as he usually did when pointing out a culprit, but everyone grew quiet to listen anyway. “Angie got the motive card from Monokuma and his cubs, and thought she could use it to further her plan of keeping us all here to ‘make a paradice’ instead of trying to escape.”

“She wouldn’t do that! We were making good things to do, and keeping an eye on people! Not messing with people!” Himiko’s objection felt wrong, like she was intruding on something. Why did he feel almost as irritated with her as Kokichi usually made him feel? She was just saying what he felt, really.

“No you fukkin cultists were ordering us around and using Gonta’s dick to swing around to keep us in line!” Miu’s objection was almost as annoying, even if it did make a sort of sense too. Of course the others felt like they were being forced to do things if they kept being watched.

“The problem is, none of us believed the images of the outside world she painted for us. Even after she went through all the effort of making sure no one would be able to see the originals to realize she painted them from memory.” Shuichi pushed on, trying to keep some semblance of order. “With one exception. All of the student Council believed ‘Atua’s Vision’ of the outside world wholeheartedly.”

“Well, not Keeboy. He doesn’t have one of those. Still fell for it though!”

He could only grit his teeth at the accusation. “It is an expression.”

“Which was something Angie knew she could use.” The clipped tone in his voice made his irritation clear. “I think that was what all the rules were for, at first. With the number advantage and with Gonta happy to help if it kept everyone safe, she might have thought everyone would just agree to stop trying to find a way out of here. Even if we didn’t believe the world had ended. I don’t know if she believed it herself.”

“But Kaito kept talking about escaping. So she had him killed.” Maki practically hissed, her frown only growing when the detective shook his head.

“I do think the argument the other day might have been a breaking point- but not towards Kaito. Maki, you’re the only one really strong enough to do anything if Gonta was asked to force an issue.”

“I know she’s a nut but she really thought Gonta would just do what she said? Because Atua said it would make things better? That might work one whole time!”

“All of us remember the insect meet and greet you caused Kokichi. It is not an irrational guess to make.”

“Do you really? Cus you know I sure remember after he found out about why I had him help out that I was left alone screaming while you all ran off, Keeboy. It’s like he learns or something even if he’s a total trusting idiot!”

“You deserved that.”

“Typical cold and heartless machine answer!”

“The point is Angie might have decided the only thing between her and a ‘perfect’ peaceful paradise was you Maki.” The detective was rather close to yelling to talk over the squabbling, even as he looked uncomfortable about his friends being targeted. “It’s a decent motive, and she has the influence to carry it out. I just don’t know how it happened if she couldn’t do anything since yesterday night.”

“What, all that to say you don’t fucking know Pooichi? Some ultimate detective you are!”

“Not exactly. Shuichi’s just being polite at this point.” Rantaro’s calm demeanour was jarring, out of place in the discomfort of accusing one another. “Our suspect list is very short. Gonta died after Kaito, but is off the hook. Monokuma already admitted to the killer being alive when he got so worked up about Maki offering the culprit a way out.”

“Hey! You quit with that meta knowledge, you’ll take all the fun out of it if you don’t knock it off!”

“Well you could have been acting at the start, but thanks for confirming it.”

The bear’s teeth twitched, claws digging into the judge chair he perched on. “Oh veeeery clever. Almost clever enough to knock your brains out a second time!”

“Well they aren’t mine this time, technically.” He shrugged, even as several students shuddered at the idea. “Which leaves the surviving members of the council. Tsumugi and Mui collaborate one another's alibi’s, so they’re out. When Angie was around, she was near Kaito, Shuichi and Maki, occasionally Himiko. Kokichi was with Gonta. Both Himiko and Keebo agree that no one else was near the food we expect might have been the catalyst of the poisoning.”

“...And both of them agree Keebo always left first, and Himiko didn’t see him do anything.” Shuichi reluctantly added.

“There wasn’t any poison, I swear! Please! Atua and Tenko and Angie wouldn’t lie to me like that!” Himiko insisted, clutching at her hat to pull it down and cover her tears. “She even showed me it wasn’t dangerous!”

“Woah hold up, what wasn’t dangerous? Can’t just shove that back in your snatch magic girl!” Miu’s pointing really just made the comment worse.

“It was just holy water! She showed me! It’d help us all get along, and everything was fine! It wasn’t poison. I-I didn’t poison you guys! I-I wouldn’t hurt you! I wouldn’t betray Tenko like that!”

“I know that’s what you think Himiko-”

“Don’t accuse Angie with her face! Stop lying to me! She wouldn’t do that!” her pained shout drowned out anything else Rantaro had to say.

“She totally told you it was magic and only to use it once right? So you dumped out all the orange juice so no one got extra holy!” Kokichi piped up, examining his fingernails like he was discussing the weather. “Guess you messed up big time!”

“No! I didn’t! She didn’t say anything like that! You’re all liars!”

“So Angie’s the culprit. She gave Himiko poison, lied to her, and it killed Kaito. We’re done here.”

“No, that’s wrong.” Keebo had to interject, trying to ignore the awful sensation running through his mind. If Shuichi and Rantaro were right, they were all completely fooled. “It doesn’t matter who planned it. Just-Just the body that did it. Monokuma was very clear on this.”

“It wasn’t me! Only Maki and Kaito got really sick! What I used didn’t hurt anyone!” the mage insisted, not wanting to listen to the others condemn the friend she’d latched on to. “It’s coincidence!”

“Wait, did Kokichi say Himiko dumped out the juice that might have been poisoned?” Tsumugi looked worried, eyes shifting to Maki and Himiko. “Because-well I got Maki more of that, because she was thirsty. Did I really cause all that blood? I’m so sorry! I had no idea!”

“I was fine. Kaito didn’t have any, this still doesn’t add up. If it was some poison that needed to be used twice, Kaito shouldn’t be dead at all.” Maki ignored the cosplayer’s apology, apparently unbothered with a brush with death.

“Kaito’s been acting odd for a little while, hasn’t he Maki? Not exercising with us as much, or running off suddenly.” Shuichi’s voice was grave, a heavy weight leaning on all the participants. “We’re all fine, but all of us are healthy enough to begin with. It’s possible-”

“That Kaito died to some stupid mistake? That he died, and the culprit is going to get away scott free for murdering him?”

“I wouldn’t hurt anyone! Tenko wouldn’t lie to me or want me to hurt you guys. We’re meant to live here since it’s safe. It’s gotta be something else!”

“The one who planned it won’t be executed, no.” Rantaro muttered, looking angry for a moment before he managed to get a more neutral expression. “If we know the reason Maki nearly died was because of Tsumugi, then our culprit is Himiko. Even if she was unaware, and was just used.”

The silence hurt. The fact it sounded like the answer, the most logical one, the fact his mind had already logged it in his memory banks as true was an awful, squeezing pressure. The lack of intent didn’t matter. The lack of knowledge didn’t matter. She was practically an innocent, trying to live up to her lost friend, and for that to be twisted and manipulated-he hated this feeling, he wanted to get rid of it. He wanted someone else to say something, anything.

“Well then, it seems like you kids want it to be voting time!”

Not that. Anything but that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, voting time when we still don't know what happened to Gonta? strange.  
> sorry for the wait, hope you enjoyed. plz feed my horrible need to know it entertained you/made you horrified :v


	21. Chapter 21

“Phew! Finally! This trial was soooooo boring! Sheesh Himiko, you should at least try to do more than look all sad.”

Kokichi speaking was only slightly worse than the threat of voting. Somewhat impressive, considering he did not want to send a friend to their death over something they truly had no knowledge of.

“Like I’m over here and you’re just sniffling about being tricked! Get angry or something! Throw your hat, turn into a cat, do SOMETHING. Yawn!”

“Shuichi are you certain I can’t just shut him up.” The unsaid ‘permanently’ hung in the air, and the smaller boy actually seemed to wince for half a second.

“I thought Gonta was so useless he wouldn’t even get his murder investigated, but you’re just that uninteresting!” He stuck his arms out as if shoving the threat away, grin seemingly locked in place. “So did you gank Gonta too Himiko? Had like a second of free thought in your entire life?”

“I-I didn’t hurt Gonta! I wouldn’t hurt Kaito either, you’re wrong, you’re all wrong!” Her objection was wet and weak, but she did seem to straighten a little at the accusation.

If she was doomed, couldn’t he at least try and help her? She shouldn’t need to take blame for more crimes she was uninvolved with.“Kaito and Gonta’s deaths do seem unrelated though. I was able to log Gonta out with no issues. Only Kaito’s failed to respond at all.”

“So what? We already know he fucked up plugging in his helmet. I’m a genius but I can’t just invent not being stupid!” Miu rolled her eyes, scoffing at the robot’s input. “We went over this, you gonna listen to that purple waste of a sperm over there?”

“Oh ow Miuuuu. I thought you loved thinking about wasted sperm! I’m not into pigs in lipstick though, sorry.”

“The both of you are awful…trivializing what happened to poor Gonta like that.” Tsumugi frowned as Miu sputtered about not being anything like a pig, looking away from them. “Do you think we missed anything Shuichi?”

“It’s possible, the crimes seem unrelated so we didn’t discuss it much. Kaito’s death had to be solved first.” Shuichi frowns as he thinks it over, the reminder apparently pushing him back into truth seeking mode. “The fact Kaito didn’t get logged out is the only reason we can still talk to him. So the fact Gonta’s totally gone is worth thinking about.”

“Too bad you couldn’t kill Kaito properly, eh Keebo? Now we’ve got a human being better at not being alive than you too!”

“I am ignoring that.” The fact he couldn’t think of a better retort made his face burn. Kaito was dead, in a sense. Even if he persisted in some form, there was still a body and a loss. Kaito could never grab his sidekicks by the shoulders over breakfast and encourage them again. The robot couldn’t deny that. Yet he was still alive- still a person. To say otherwise would deny himself as being ‘alive’ really. But that wasn’t Kokichi’s goal, confusing him. The uncomfortable looks from his friends- their uncertainty on what to consider Kaito now was all that troublemaker wanted.

“So, what do you think kept Kaito from logging out Miu?” Rantaro’s question seemed casual, but the way the inventor squeaked you would think he’d asked something disgusting.

“H-How should I fuckin know? When someone forces a log out, they should log out! He’s just fuckin lucky that it didn’t work!”

“Could it possibly have a way to prevent data from logging to an invalid location?” He didn’t really understand the details, but he knew his brain wouldn’t try to put his memories in a memory bank that got damaged or full, at least.

“It isn’t like Kaito’s body was moved.” Maki seemed skeptical, or perhaps distracted. The cold fire of her questions seemed to have died out now that Kaito’s case had been solved, at least.

“I didn’t build the thing!” Miu’s frustration at the repeated questions had her gripping the podium. “But I fucking guess it might? The helmets know what head they’re on so some stupid logout issues don’t happen.”

“So if Kaito’s body died, but his mind in the simulation didn’t get that signal-” Shuichi cut himself off, frowning. “Then why could Gonta log out?”

“I thought Gonta was the one who had the wires wrong...shouldn’t Kaito be the one not having logout problems then?” Himiko sniffed, somehow managing to look up a little, “Nyeh...maybe we have everything wrong. I know Angie wouldn’t hurt anyone…”

“Little murderer says what?”

“Nyehhh…”

Kokichi only stuck out his tongue “Oh you are so not fun at all.”

“Miu. Are you absolutely certain it isn’t possible to die in the simulation? Kaito and Gonta’s situations shouldn’t differ this much, I don’t think. Not if they both died from accidents unrelated to it.” Shuichi’s question was more of a demand, eyes staring as he waited for the blonde inventor to stammer out an explanation.

“Fuck, Pooichi! Ask the fucking sadist bear, I didn’t code all of it! I just took the dangerous shit out so it couldn’t happen, okay?”

“So Miu just plain missed something and Gonta fell in some trap? That’s just plain cruel.” Tsumugi didn’t look like she completely believed Miu, but wasn’t offering some other option.

“No one else had any trouble. I checked for weapons and traps.” Maki shook her head.

“Yeah and you didn’t find ANYTHING cus this golden brain doesn’t slack off! It was a fuckin error that he caused, get it? I don’t fuck up like you brainless shitheels!”

Her insistence felt wrong. Not only that, she had to have overlooked something. Passing through a wall would be a relatively large issue. Yet no one else had brought it up?

“I just don’t think it makes sense unless Gonta somehow died in there. Kaito couldn’t log out because he was already dead, but he still counted as the first victim. I saw him, still moving fine before Keebo woke me up to help with Maki.” The furrow on the detective’s brow looked painful with how deeply it cut into his face. “We’re missing something here.”

“Maybe he just died during the log out. The wire switch?” The assassin pointed out.

“Everyone can agree Gonta’s avatar was fine the last time we saw it, right?” Rantaro asked, pushing Maki’s assumption aside. “I didn’t think to get a log out order, can you remember it Keebo?”

He could. Maybe. He wasn’t really going in an order after getting Shuichi up-but Gonta was one of the last ones. “I don’t have it written down or recorded-but he was one of the last ones I tried.”

“Um. Gonta kinda ignored me when I asked him if he knew why people were vanishing...but maybe he didn’t get to answer? I got logged out right after…” Himiko drew everyone’s attention, even as she seemed liable to crawl into her oversized hat. “He looked fine? But now that you mention it…”

“Gonta isn’t the type to ignore people for a gag! He’s not the type to look into the distance and ask when the sun will rise.” Tsumugi’s objection just confused everyone, and he chalked it up to a strange reference or something.

“But you saw him on the roof?” Shuichi prompted again, half biting his knuckle.

“Yeah, I was looking for people after Maki just vanished...so I tried up there.”

“Ohhh, did the big oaf trip and fall off the roof and die? What a loser!” Kokichi’s unwanted hypothesis only earned him a set of fierce glares.

“No, the railing was high enough to keep anything like that from happening. You’d need to be pushed, or try it on purpose.”

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t program in fuckin roof hopping.”

“I’m not suggesting you did- I’m just trying to find out what piece we’re missing here.” The frustration was evident as he buried his face in hand, muffling his own words as he concentrated. “If he died in the virtual world, there had to be a cause, a weapon, something we’re overlooking.”

“I already said there isn’t! God for a detective you’re a shitty fucking listener.”

“Maybe there isn’t anything left to find Shuichi.” Maki’s prompt was more understanding, almost kind. “We don’t have anything other than the switched wires. It might just have been an accident.”

“Totally! Accidents happen all the time, and Gonta’s a big dumb idiot who should totally die that way. Time to stop thinking and go!” Kokichi grinned even as Maki glared at him.

“It just doesn’t feel right. Like I haven’t found the truth here-” Shuichi’s face was pained as he looked over his monopod again, eyes darting around for an answer he couldn’t see.

“Well Miu’s told us everything about the virtual world, right? If there wasn’t anything dangerous, and he looked okay...maybe it really was just bad luck.” Tsumugi sniffed a little, not wanting to look at Kokichi. “Even if I don’t want him to be right. But I plain didn’t see anything weird”

“No weapons or anything here...and we were there awhile…” The magician reluctantly admitted, even though dragging the trial out was in her best interest.

Rantaro’s sigh was heavy. “I don’t have any proof we don’t know everything about the virtual world.”

He could swear the bodysnatcher was staring at him when he spoke, as if wanting him to speak. He could bring up the wall thing. The error that apparently no one else was aware of. Yet he...couldn’t. His mouth wouldn’t open. His inner voice didn’t want him to speak up. Doing that would only harm Miu.  
Miu was his friend, wasn’t she? She wouldn’t lie to everyone for no reason. They already had their killer. Gonta’s death might be better off unsolved.

As it would implicate someone. Someone not punished. Someone who no one would be able to trust again. Wouldn’t that make things worse? All the calculations and arguments seemed logical, fair, reasonable. Yet it was lying to stay silent now, wasn’t it? He should be helping Shuichi find the truth, that was- that’s what he always did. So why couldn’t he speak?

“We’re talking to you, Keeboy! You poked around in there sooooo long and you didn’t see anything with your freaky robot eyes?” Kokichi’s taunt was jarring, but almost welcome.

“I-I” His admittance wouldn’t come, sounding more like an offended noise than anything else.

“You can’t think of anything?” Rantaro’s prompt seemed deeper than the surface question, eyes staring into his own. Yet he seemed like he was trying to look past them.

“Oooooor maybe he won’t think of anything because he likes being Miu’s little slave too much to even think she could do anything wrong!”

“I- can’t- think of anything. No.” He lied. Outright. Stammering and unable to really stop himself from doing so. He was going to say he had- that something was wrong. He could, but he could only say can’t. It made him feel ill at ease, the voice that usually guided him kindly more of a demand than a suggestion. He shouldn’t fear it, right? So why did it feel like that choice hadn’t really been his to make?

“Shuichi, you can’t keep looking for a better answer like this.” Maki was stricter this time, even as Shuichi kept staring into space.

“Is the truth of it really an accident? Two accidents?” He was more talking to himself, a distressed note slipping past the brave face he often had. His next words were practically a whisper, likely not wanting anyone to hear “Kaede- maybe the truth isn’t- worth finding after all...”

That sounded rather personal. Should he feel bad about hearing it? He wanted to just stare at the floor, but with both Rantaro and Kokichi staring he felt the need to be less obvious about avoiding their gezes.

“Really? Oh...I was hoping you’d have a breakthrough or something. But I guess you don’t have some super IQ to do that with.” Tsumugi didn’t seem too surprised, but was clearly trying to avoid looking at Himiko.

“Hey hey! Can’t? The robot figured out how to talk like a person!”

“Just because I do not prefer contractions does not mean I am speaking improperly.”

“Oh nevermind, back to sounding like a dictionary. Musta been a glitch or something eh Keeboy?”

The fact the grinning pain in the class’ behind actually noticed that unnerved him. He thought Kokichi was never paying attention, but noticing the one time he couldn’t manage to speak as he intended to? Did he enjoy playing a fool, or something? Why? “I can speak how I want, Kokichi.”

“Can you really?” He almost seemed serious before snickering. “Suuuure, okay! Of course a robot would want to sound like a soulless corpse. Otherwise it’s false advertising.”

“Can you cut it out? I do not do anything like this to you!”

“Both of you just shut up. Shuichi’s thinking.”

Rantaro shook his head before speaking up. “I don’t like to say it, but if everything Miu’s told us is true, there isn’t any other explanation.”

“We don’t have any reason to doubt it either, really.” Saying that seemed to pain the detective as he stared at Gonta’s portrait. “It’s unlikely we could miss something that makes more sense than the wire mix up being the issue.”

Kokichi leaned forward, pushing harder onto his podium. “Seriously? Both of you totally think that’s what happened?”

The assassin only rolled her eyes at his tone. “Unless you’re going to suggest something, do us a favour and don’t talk.”

“You totally trust Miu? You guys hate her as much as you hate me, and you’re totally going to just pretend trying to get us to go there in the first place wasn’t super weird?”

“None of you had any issues within the virtual world. Doubting Miu without any evidence is just creating more problems.” Why was he insisting on shutting down this line of discussion? Well, because his inner voice wanted him to- but did he want- of course he did. “She is not as bad as you like to pretend.”

“Gonta wouldn’t want us to fight if he was still here. He had too good a heart, really.” Tsumugi sniffed, pulling attention away from the tense standoff.

“If you have a reason to suspect her that isn’t not liking her, speak up Kokichi. I know she could modify that world to make it safe if she wanted to. She’s used her inventions multiple times already.” The detective looked tired, as if already resigned to hearing another pile of nonsense from the smaller boy.

“Yeah! My talent’s actually got a use unlike you! You just fuckin run around trying to kick people in the dick!” Miu had more than enough energy to spare for the both of them, ignoring the angrier tone.

“Evidence? Sure, I’ve got evidence!” He paused for an obnoxiously long time, eyes darting between the students. “Miu’s a bitch. I know, easily overlooked am I right?”

“So you don’t have anything.” Rantaro sighed, rubbing at his forehead.

“Nope! Not personally!” The boy might be grinning, but the glare he was sending the robot’s way was surprisingly hateful. Not one of the playful mocking ones, but it seemed to pass quickly enough.

“Urgh, shut up dick cheese. Are we done now?” Miu asked the question no one else seemed willing to voice, confidence seemingly returned by Kokichi’s failure to pin anything on her.

“Oh? Now you’re finally going to vote? Got all that mystery solving out of your system kids?” Monokuma’s question chilled the room. No one wanted to look at Himiko. This whole thing felt so wrong.

“Angie’s going to need to explain some things to you guys...but I doubt Monokuma’s going to make it that easy.”

“Why would I? Go on then! Choose the murderer and remember the rules on who the blackened is!” The sing song tone did nothing to help. He was practically admitting they had the right culprit, as wrong and unfair as it was.

Yet instead of playing along with the bear, Kokichi launched into another confusing tangent. “Oooooor we could vote wrong on purpose! Himiko’s totally innocent right? So why don’t we go down for her instead?”

“H-huh? No! Tenko could never forgive that! I couldn’t either…” Himiko’s confusion couldn’t quite drive away her sniffles. “It’s no good surviving here all alone…”

“No stupid, you’d be going home! Remember? The whole ‘world is over’ thing was fake? Totally worth it!”

The assassin grit her teeth. “What are you up to now.”

“Up to? I just reeeeally like Himiko! She’s like my height and everything. So obviously she should live while we all die. Like Gonta. Since he died for nothing anyway, why not all of us? We can just accidentally vote for me! We look so alike and all.”

“You are not making any sense. Voting for someone clear of being a suspect is suicide. I thought you wanted to have ‘fun’?” He might not know what love felt like, but the robot was certain Kokichi did not feel any of it towards Himiko.

“Well yeah. Gonta dying for such a dumb and boring reason makes the whole thing booooring. So why not end it now? Just have more ‘mistakes!’”

“We aren’t doing that. We can’t move forward if all of us throw our lives away.” Shuichi’s tone was cold, a disdainful look on his face. “If we were going to give up, we should have done it three trials ago.”

“Then how about you stop being lazy and find out WHO KILLED HIM?”

“There’s no one! We don’t have anything else to go on Kokichi. Why can’t you just be happy we won’t have a murderer among us since it was an accident?”

“Well Himiko’s going to die for an accident, so whoever caused this one should too, don’t ya think?” He shrugs, shaking his head. “I thought we felt bad for her? Sorry Himiko, only you get punished for something you didn’t mean to do today! Because we’re such good friends. But not that good!”

“We know you don’t really care. Vote for yourself if you want, no one cares what you do.”

Monokuma apparently didn’t care for their conversation, the screens on each podium lighting up to prompt a vote. Thirty seconds. Not enough time to really decide anything. Not that anyone would just throw their lives away. Himiko didn’t want that, Kaede wouldn’t want that. Gonta wouldn’t either. He had to pick Himiko, no matter how unfair it was.

“Did you make the right choice? Or the dreadfully wrong one?”

Five votes for Himiko. Two for Kokichi? Why two? It didn’t matter, really, but it was somewhat unsettling that anyone wanted to give up like that. They’d never be able to question Angie if they did that. Dying without even knowing if their homes were still okay- it was terrible.

“Oh very good class! You saw how that magic loving girl cruelly poisoned an already suffering Kaito! Maybe Atua asked you to end his pain, hmmm?”

“I promise, I didn’t know…” She shook even as everyone moved away from the podiums. “Why did she lie to me?”

“Oh oh I know! We can ask her before we execute the magic girl right dad?” Monotaro seemed eager to help, hopping in place.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s more fun if she dies knowing her god and dead friend will neeeeverrrr forgive her!” The sick grin mocked them as the bear reached for the button.

“We really should discuss it. It’s pretty obvious that you’ll make us switch now anyway, so Angie should explain to Himiko, at least.” Rantaro interrupted, focused on the mechanical bears. “How can we be sure without a confession?”

Shuichi seemed confused by the attempts to drag out this post trial moment, looking like he was going to speak before suddenly snapping his jaw shut.

When had Maki gotten so close to the sniffing magician? She wasn’t one to give a comforting sort of pat on the back.  
Unless? A cold snap of fear raced through him as he recalled how the trial began. She wouldn’t-she couldn’t. He ran forward, knowing he couldn’t just let Maki kill Himiko. Even if she was going to die soon anyway. 

“What are you doing.” Maki scowled, seemingly unruffled by having a robotic hand grab her wrist. The wrist that was supporting a small but deadly blade.

“That’s what we should be asking Maki! Why do you have a knife!” Tsumugi looked like she would faint, cringing away. “How could we know you were serious about killing the culprit? You can’t make her suffer like that!”

“Do it, do it! Shank her like a murderer! Monokuma takes way too long anyway, this is WAY MORE exciting!”

“Fuck she’s gonna kill us! The world won’t forgive you for killing this genius!”

“Please- make it quick?” Himiko didn’t try to dart away, instead moving closer to the armed assassin.

“What? Himiko, you need to run.” The robot blinked, trying to ignore the discomfort in his arm. Maki trying to pull away was making his shoulder joint strain to stay in place. The extra electricity coursing through it didn’t help, but he didn’t want to harm Maki.

“Yeah, listen to the robot traitor and run to his bear friends! Then they can chop you up all slow, or feed ya to fish like Ryoma!”

“There will be no murder In this courtroom that isn’t caused by me, got it? Save that murderlust for after, okay?” Monokuma tisked, clapping as two exisals slammed to the floor, weapons raised.

Maki jerked her arm away hard, the robot wincing as pain alerted him to the damage. He wasn’t meant to restrain people. Yet he managed to keep his fingers closed, he had to. Otherwise Himiko would die, and Maki would likely be punished.

“Let go, you’re going to make her suffer.” She sounded like she was ordering a dog, instead of talking to a friend.

“I do not want to tell Kaito we watched the Exisals destroy you.” It was easy to say, even though the thought of Himiko needing to suffer through an execution was unfair. Part of him wanted to let her try. Maybe. He wasn’t sure if it was him or not.

“I’m calling his bluff. Let. Go.”

She yanked hard enough to pull him off his feet. He couldn’t catch himself with only one arm, the impact hard and disorienting. He groaned, trying to process an answer. She couldn’t stab anyone with his weight keeping her arm mostly down. Unless she used some leverage and tore his arm off entirely. An alarming but distinctly real possibility. 

“Maki? I think it’s too late now.” Shuichi tried to get through to her. “He’s paying attention, you can’t fight off two Exisals.”

“I could try. You don’t want to give up and let them get what they want, do you Shuichi?”

“I don’t want to lose any more than we have to today! Please.”

She only glared at his pained plea for sense. “You’re being a coward.”

If the pain was any indication, Maki absolutely could rip his arm clear off while she braced her leg against his chest. So he had to- didn’t he? It was just a low grade shock, to paralyze, not kill. Even if it made him uncomfortable, to force an issue like this. The pain was more pressing. So he let the electricity discharge through the center of his palm, trying to ignore Maki’s surprised grunt as her arm went limp.

“Holy fuck you installed a WEAPON? On your OWN?”

...Of course Miu’d guessed what he’d done, exactly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'gee why do you only install weapons when angie asks keebo' and other angry questions asked by Miu.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone loves a good execution!

“A weapon? Miu what do you mean?” Shuichi was already stepping forward as if he could somehow help Maki, even though the assassin looked more surprised than hurt.

“What I said, fuckwit! That lab had tons of upgrades. What, you think there weren’t any weapons?” She seemed more occupied by hiding back behind the podiums, not even looking at the others. “Ass bitch had weapons, you had a fuckin waterfall of poison, what did you expect?”

“But anyone could use those, right? Having personalized weapons only you can use is plain unfair.” Tsumugi’s comment was muffled, as she joined Miu in fleeing.

The bear only laughed at the complaint. “Unfair? It’s totally fair! We robots gotta stick together, yeah?”

That comment couldn’t go unchallenged, even if he really should be focusing on getting back up instead. “What? Do not act like I am anything like you, or your children that you keep letting die.” He let Maki go, kicking the dropped knife away so she wouldn’t be able to easily retrieve it.

“Y’know, I didn’t think the Ultimate Assassin could get stopped by the lamest robot ever.” Kokichi had slipped back into a casual stance, apparently more at ease in the confusion. “Maybe you two can switch titles!”

Maki scowled, already hitting her stunned arm as if to help wake it up faster. “Like a ‘Supreme Leader’ wouldn’t know how to stab someone. So much for caring about Himiko. You’re just a snake.”

“Or maybe a flighty horse? Mmm, no. Probably a donkey…” Tsumugi babbled, not really looking anymore.

“Guys? We’re getting distracted again.” Rantaro’s voice was too easily drowned out, Angie’s height an active detriment to letting it carry to the remaining students.

Shuichi did seem to hear, head whipping back and forth as he tried to spot what had gotten him to speak up. “Himiko?”

The concern only made the surge of guilt hurt more as he managed to get back to his feet, stepping away before Maki could think to punch him with her good arm. That’d probably hurt her.

The glare still felt like a blow. “You just sentenced her to be executed.”

“We all did that when we voted. I simply kept the Exisals from killing you as well.” He wanted to cross his arms, but if he needed his right arm-he shouldn’t need it, but he had to keep it free. “You are being illogical.”

“Kokichi is right about one thing. You’re just another machine.” It looked painful with how tightly her jaw clenched as she stalked away, getting closer to the distressed detective.

“Ooooh burn! The killing machine’s fed up with the garbage disposal! Where’s the popcorn, it’s finally getting good.”

“You know perfectly well we would not win that fight. Stop trying to make this situation worse.” Maki’s words didn’t hurt. It was fine, she was just more emotional in the moment. After all, he had attacked her, in a sense. She didn’t really mean that. Kaito would be furious if Maki died because some Exisal shot her. Focusing on Kokichi was easier. He was always rude, easier to ignore.

“None of those words sounded like where the popcorn is, so I don’t care.”

“Being angry at each other won’t solve anything. All of you just take a breath.” The talentless student tried again, getting a few more eyes in his direction this time. “No one here acted in bad faith. If we start going after one another now, we’ll just give Monokuma what he wants.”

Maki didn’t seem moved by the call for peace. “He already got what he wanted!”

“He would have anyway, you are not faster than machine gun fire Maki! Please be reasonable, it was to protect all of us!” Keebo pleaded, even though he couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye.

“Maki, the moment Monokuma saw the knife it was too late. Even if you’d swung, he probably has...methods of protecting people from you if he wants to. After all, he knows you are an assassin.”

“How could you know? You’ve been here less than all of us.” She looked unconvinced.

That actually earned a chuckle and a weary shrug. “Let’s just say I’m pretty sure my talent had someone to do with unfair games. Monokuma feels...familiar? I could be wrong, but with how quickly those Exisals showed up, I don’t think I am.”

“But how could he grab Himiko without any of us noticing? He didn’t with Kaede.” Shuichi stood stiffly, eyes darting back and forth as if Himiko would reappear from behind a podium. “We would have noticed if the Exisals did something.” The hand he used to reach after the pianist on the day the wretched collar had dragged her away trembled even as he managed to keep his voice level.

“I’m not your average bear, detective! Puhuhuhu!” Monokuma grinned at the five remaining students, twilling a gavel in those strange bear paws. “Besides, I thought you kids liked magic shows? Kids these days, so ungrateful.”

Keebo didn’t want to look at the screen that ‘helpfully’ slid out from the wall. Why should any of them watch Monokuma flaunting the fact he could do anything he wanted? Making a spectacle over killing someone was bad enough, but to someone who had no malice, someone who was completely unaware that she had even killed someone was repulsive. If he ignored it, wasn’t that denying the awful bear? He clearly enjoyed their misery, relished in the pain. Ignoring the sounds, the awful ‘music’ shouldn’t be that hard. He could simply stare at the floor.

Yet apparently that would be wrong. To deny Himiko support in her final moments. Would he have the right to mourn her loss if he didn’t even witness what happened? He frowned, fingers clenching tight around the edge of his collar. He didn’t agree that not watching was disrespectful. The magician wouldn’t be happier because her friends were properly traumatized as she perished. Yet the voices insisted. That he was simply wrong. Which he could be, many human things could still escape him, but this? How did watching Kaede, Kirumi and Korekiyo suffer benefit anyone other than Monokuma? This wasn't logical. His biggest weakness might be emotions, but he didn’t think he was that far off. Unless he was? He shouldn’t be arguing with his inner voice so much, should he? It helped him so often. Yet flicking his eyes towards the screen made him feel as if he was barely charged. Cold, distant and weak. Negative feelings, ones he should avoid, how could this be the ‘right’ thing to do?

He felt stuck, staring at the small shuddering girl. She attempted to back away from the smirking bear and his tacky mockery of her outfit, but her foot found no more stage to flee on. The gaping abyss of an ‘audience’ holding umbrellas that were more like knives was enough to keep the redhead frozen in fear.

He couldn’t hear her, but when Himiko closed her eyes she seemed to be apologizing. To Tenko? Kaito? Herself, maybe? Yet the bear was heartless as always, horrible spiked chains snapping around her arms to drag her towards an ominous black and white box. Like something she would use in a sword trick, but with any joy and wonder replaced with pain and hate.  
He didn’t want to see Monokuma’s idea of a trick. He didn’t want to watch the monster bow and flick their hat in a jaunty manner before managing to conjure a bloodied chainsaw. Yet his eyes remained fixed and still. He wasn’t even blinking-which might be cosmetic and didn’t matter much, but felt off. Trying to distract himself from the bear giggling as they threw some too-small white tiger pelt over the box, maybe. From the way blood leaked from the box as one shrieking chainsaw after another was slammed into the sides.

Someone was making retching noises. Not that he could check who. Yet it was wrong of him to be worried about his own issues right now. Not with Himiko suffering right in front of them. The swung open box dripped blood, but the pained shuddering, heaving breaths betrayed that the magician still lived. Even with bone exposed in several areas, likely only upright because of the chains. The saws had kept their maiming to her extremities apparently. She was always tougher than expected, not dying of shock right then and there.

Living did her no favours. There was a shriek, painfully loud as monstrous birds with gleaming red eyes flapped forward. Birds that shouldn’t have eyes like Monokuma. Some sort of peaceful animal twisted to suit the barbaric ‘show’.  
Doves, possibly. Doves that dove and tore at fresh meat as if it was bird seed. More scratches more gouges, as one flew clear with an eye wrenched away with a sickening slorp.  
Monokuma waving them away to close the box again was a small reprieve, but he could still imagine Himiko merely holding on in there.

The audience cheered as Monokuma knocked on the box three times before it fell away to show nothing but the empty chains. A vanishing act. He kept bowing as the crowd threw roses...then chunks of fingers followed by limbs. Gristly squelching sounds joined in as what looked like M  
Monokub bits were added to the disgusting ‘appreciation’. 

He didn’t know how his fellow students managed having gag reflexes, finally managing to tear his gaze away and clutch at his head, shuddering. Why was any of that necessary? Why was this fun to Monokuma? Who made a robot that could think like he can, but made it to be a terrible murderer?

“Really, that act isn’t gonna fool anyone. Why should you care if humans die?”

Anger was preferable to this awful pit of fear and shame. “Because I do not enjoy people losing their lives. Friends losing theirs over an accident is even worse. You are the one lying all the time, not me.” He spat with an intensity he did not actually think he had the ability to express before now.

Yet the boy only cackled as if told a hilarious joke. “Sure! Totally! Like I am one for spectacle, but that? Totally had to close my eyes for a sec!” His grin slipped “Unlike somebody here.”

“Hey, Kokichi? You’re getting mad at the wrong things right now.” Rantaro stepped in before Keebo could finish spitting back a pathetic retort, earning a genuinely baffled face from the short bandana boy.

“Me, mad? Don’t be silly! I loooooove watching people get slashed to bits because of some heartless machine! It’s exciting!” He ignored how his enthusiasm drew hateful glares from the others. “Himiko got to be in a magic show that didn’t suck!”

“I’m going to kill him.”

“Maki-” Shuichi looked panicked, but relaxed as his friend rolled her eyes and started pushing the detective towards the elevator.

“Not literally Shuichi. Pay attention.”

“Yeah. R-Right.”

“Oh, that’s just plain concerning. She is an assassin, and no one is going to trust Angie after this, if she even comes back. Like a third act villain.” Tsumugi watched them go, apparently not wanting to join them.

“Trust me.You might have an idea, but you’re blaming the wrong thing.” He seemed more insistent this time, frowning as Kokichi shook his head.

“Y’know, I don’t think I am! How about you trust me instead of stealing my thing, hmm?”

“...What are you two even talking about?” Keebo frowned, puzzlement draining away the worst of his anger.

“Oh please. Seriously?” Kokichi’s answer was as unenlightening as always.

“Later. I promise. I can’t explain yet.” He looked apologetic, but his answer was just as unhelpful.

Maybe everyone was just being weird from the stress and worry of what happened. “Okay. If you say so.” He moved away from them, seeking out Miu who still seemed a little too attached to the podium at the moment.

“Fuck! Whadda want now? I am so not into shocks, okay?” Miu looked afraid, eyes always looking away instead of at the robot. “Okay maybe I am a little but I wouldn’t feel that shit so it sucks.”

“Miu, I am not going to do anything like that. You know I am not like that.” At least, he thought she should know that. She was his closest friend, after all. Someone that didn’t think he was below the rest of the class for being what he was. Had he been wrong?

“Uhhuh.”

“I just wanted to check if you were okay. It was rather tense in the trial- and that execution was unpleasant.” He spoke hurriedly, wondering if trying to reach out had been a mistake. Though he did need to talk to Miu anyway…

Yet even as she shook, it seemed more like anger than terror. “‘Course I’m fine you stupid robot. Why should I give a fuck about magic vanishing tits? She’s dead, big fucking deal! Lots of us are dead and we’re still stuck in this hellhole!”

“Miu- I know this situation is terrible, but we should not disregard the lives lost.” He felt foolish, scolding her, trying to correct her when on some level he knew she truly didn’t care all that much. After all, most of them disliked her as much as they dismissed him.

“Yeah yeah shove the laws up your tailpipe Keebs.”

“Uh. I do not follow the ones I think you are referring to?” Which she probably knew, or suspected. “At least, I am not obligated to do so. I choose to care about humans because I want to.” Miu couldn’t possibly think he only cared about his friends because he was obligated to make sure humans did not come to harm, right?

“Oh my fuck you take everything so literally yeesh.” Yet this got the inventor to laugh a little, finally coming out of hiding completely to look down at the shorter machine. “You totally owe me an upgrade sesh for that installing a weapon on your own shit.”

“Ah well, I would rather not have these things, so if you wanted to help me remove it?” He offered, rubbing at the arm uncomfortably. “Or we could try to think of a way to help Kaito see more than the virtual world?”

“Eh? Space brain? Why? He doesn’t give two shits about us, or using his brain for anything other than ‘believing’.” Her nose wrinkled as if he’d asked her to put a garbage can on her head.

“Well everyone else likes him Miu, and might help keep people positive?” He went for the ‘logical reason first as they entered the elevator to ride up and out of the trial grounds. “That and well. I do not think he will manage well in there alone for long. He is still alive, just different. More like me.”

“Sounds dumb, but why the hell not. Don’t have anything better to do here anyway.” 

“Thank you Miu! I know I will not be much help, but if anyone could invent a solution, it would be you.”

She flushed at the praise, marching out of the elevator the second it opened. “Yeah yeah, at least someone knows how great I am.”

Part of him felt he should leave it at that for now, but the grounds were dark and quiet. They were unlikely to be overheard with two already gone and three still down in the trial room. “Can I just ask a quick question?”

“You just did, duh.”

Oh right. Human humour. He took it as a yes. “It is just, well. I noticed something odd in the virtual world.”

Miu stopped dead, and he had to take a moment to keep his balance so he didn’t run into her. “Odd how.” It didn’t sound like a question. More like a threat?

It was a suspicion, not a fact. Yet his inner voice insisted he had the right thread of logic. That being coy or only suggesting something might not answer anything. “You know how Gonta actually died, don’t you.”

“Huh? What are you talkin about? We did the whole thing and there wasn’t anything, did your memory glitch out?” She blathered, high pitched and deeply unconvincing if she was trying to look innocent.

He hesitated. Did he really want to question this? After just letting it go in the trial? “I walked through a wall at the ‘end of the world’ and came out the other side to still see the world.” He stared at his hands, not wanting to see her face right now. “I do not think you would state the world was different than it actually was without a reason, Miu.”

A glance up to see Miu frozen as if he’d threatened her told him far more than he wanted to know. “T-Then why didn’t ya say anything back there, h-h-huh?”

“Because” He hesitated, uncomfortable with how distressed she seemed “Because I did not think people distrusting you would do anyone any good. I did not want people to hate you if I just misunderstood, if it was something that slipped past you, or anything like that.” Even though every circuit in him insisted he had made no mistake. That Miu had a trick there from the beginning, and a goal.

She seemed to be fighting with something, confusion and fear warring for dominance on her face before she grabbed that robot in a tight hug, much to his surprise. “You’re a fucking life saver.”

He had not saved any lives, quite frankly, but he didn’t feel it was right to argue. Even if a human wanting to hug him felt very strange. Was he meant to hug back or something? No, that’d be uncomfortable. “You know I trust you Miu. You must have had reasons.” Even if he...shouldn’t trust her.

She laughed, exhausted and half crazed. “Yeah. Fuck Keebo, robots are way better than people. We’ll do that Kaito shit tomorrow or whatever.” She let go, a weight apparently gone from her shoulders. “So be charged, got it?”

“Right! I can do that.” He watched her go before finding his way to his own room, trying to ignore the confusion crackling in his mind. ‘Reasons’. Reasons like what? Because his inner voice didn’t want people to hate Miu? Even if she likely was just...trying to escape? Was that really okay? Of course it was, it had to be. Humans made mistakes too, right? Just a mistake. Guilt was not a pleasant feeling, even as he kept trying to justify it. His inner voice’s assurances it was for the best just felt wrong. Off. It was working in his best interest, wasn’t it?

Slumping against the wall to wait out the night and charge didn’t conjure an answer like he wanted it to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, chapter end!  
> Kind of a shorter chapter to just wrap up the trial and post bits, but our robot friend has many, many questions with no answers.  
> Which should be explored soon!   
> (ideally sooner because Strikers will eat my free time once it is out so I will try to be prompt.)  
> Also thank you to everyone who left comments again! They always make my day c:


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're totally all friends again now, right?  
> right?

At least with all the others sleeping off the exhausting day, he had plenty of time to think. Staring at bare walls didn’t provoke many insights. They remained as nonsensical as usual. Decent housing and anything needed to keep living was provided. Wouldn’t it make more sense to not provide those things, if Monokuma just wanted to watch suffering? Maybe his AI was just strange? Nothing about this situation was ‘fair’ to any of them, but the bear insisted that he was. Whoever programmed him clearly had no idea how games should work. The entire lack of fun should disqualify any of this as a game. Not that bringing such a thing up would help. Monokuma seemed to be autonomous enough to do as he pleased. Nothing like himself of course! Just...similar.

Covering up for Miu was wrong, wasn’t it? He didn’t have any solid proof to what she had done, of course. That excuse couldn’t stand up to the simple logic that Miu had lied about how the world was laid out, and kept it a secret. A significant advantage if she planned to cause any trouble. She’d be able to make solid alibi’s that no one would catch on as strange, as their understanding of the world was intentionally sabotaged. He could only insist his friends would not participate in murder schemes so often after it kept happening. Miu was...well, a bit paranoid. She didn’t want to be here. She probably didn’t think through what exactly she was planning to do. If she never admitted to killing Gonta, he could pretend the glitch hypothesis was correct, right? Shuichi was probably the second smartest person here after all. The detective just didn’t know the whole story. Because he’d kept quiet.  
He didn’t enjoy this feeling. He couldn’t blame his inner voice, it just helped guide him. If he really didn’t feel right hiding that information, he should have spoken up.  
Except- except he couldn’t. Or was that just his mind trying to justify why he’d lied? It wasn’t like he could be controlled. The professor wanted him to operate on his own and never made anything like that. He’d always give a warm smile and assure him he was his own robot, not some toy that could be puppeted on a whim. That it was right to stand up for himself if people were cruel and acted like he should be subservient.   
So was he making excuses? He knew it was normal for people to act, then have their brains justify why they had done so. He was meant to be similar...though he was fairly sure he had never felt the need to invent some ‘other force’ to justify his behaviour. Perhaps the problems he had been noticing in his systems were more serious than he thought. What if he started forgetting the time of new memories suddenly? He’d barely be able to keep track of what was a current event, or could be easily misled. The strange, disturbing urges for violence hadn’t exactly stopped either, even if they stayed focused on Kokichi. The boy might deserve pushback, but not murderous action. No matter how logical it had kept feeling in the moment.

Keeping still helped. He would be unable to shock anyone, or cause any further distress hunched against his dorm wall like this, idly checking systems as his battery recharged. He would need to ask Miu for a favour, much as the idea made the guilty hum in his neck feel worse. It wasn’t urgent, but Maki had managed to pull hard enough to strain wires out of their proper positions. Any harder and his arm might have snapped out of the socket of his torso entirely. It wasn’t comfortable like this. Pain let him know if he needed something checked out, like any human, but at the moment it would be nice if he could dismiss it until he could get it repaired. He already knew, but it had to keep reminding him. There had been a reason why he couldn’t disable it, maybe. He couldn’t quite remember what had been said exactly. Or if it had been something he’d be told, or something he’d been asked to read. The lack of certainty made him clutch his legs tighter, an action to distract. Memory problems were more a human thing, noticing more holes wasn’t making the events of the day any better.  
Himiko understood why he couldn’t let Maki do that, right? Wherever she was? Logically, nowhere. Just dead. But he liked the ideas Kiyo had spoken of, he preferred Angie’s version where she would be safe with Tenko and any other friends with Atua.  
Even if it was nonsensical. To want his friends to be happy somewhere that was not here. Not just gone, like how he was whenever he was shut off. It wasn’t like he could know for sure, he always came back from being powered down. So maybe it was different than dying, as it was only temporary. At least just not existing was reasonably better than being here?  
Maybe he just would not be able to understand. If Kokichi was right about him- that he did not have a ‘ghost’ or a ‘soul’ or some sort, because only humans had those. Korekiyo had made a similar implication, and it wasn’t as if any of the others objected. Maybe there was something nice, and he just would be unable to do it. Like swimming. Or knowing what love felt like.

It wasn’t making him feel better. The argument that Angie made, that Atua was accepting of robots, felt more like lies told to get him in line. Someone he trusted implicitly had planned to have everyone poisoned. That didn’t add up with the idea of some generous god that knew everything, but couldn’t create peace without vile crimes. Shuichi would probably know, but going anywhere near him would be incredibly difficult if Maki held a grudge. She would, in all likelihood. The assassin was distrustful and distant to most of them to start with, and he’d likely joined Kokichi on her despised list. He didn’t like admitting the troublemaker could have easily deduced it was safer for everyone to know Maki’s true identity, much as the robot knew it was safer to stop Maki from acting there in the trial room. He’d just need to figure out a way to prove he didn’t have any bad intentions, but most of his plans hinged on Miu being able to assist Kaito. On his own, he was worthless. Why couldn’t he be more useful? In a way that wasn’t violent, if only he was even a little bit smarter or more knowledgeable...but he wasn’t. Frustrating was the word for how that felt, he was pretty sure. It was as it the rest of the world started insisting 2 + 2 = 3 while he knew it was 4. It was more in his arms, making him want to fidget and adjust things until the feeling subsided, but there wasn’t anything he could do.

He took care not to be one of the first students up and awake. It was cowardly, but he would prefer getting answers about what Angie had been up to instead of getting grilled for answers or shunned for ‘attacking’ Maki. All he had to do was listen for the slamming doors. There would only be five. It was easy to forget how few they were, with Angie technically counting as two, and Kaito as a very limited one. If two more died, they’d be down to four. Any after that would bring them to the ‘end’ of the killing game. As there would be either the killer escaping, or down to the ‘final two’ the game would apparently end at. How had this happened? So many people, so many deaths, so quickly. The world wasn’t meant to be like this. People weren’t meant to be tortured like this, or tricked into thinking the world had ended. to keep friends from killing one another.

They weren’t enjoyable thoughts, but it kept him occupied as he reached the dining hall, the raised voices already making him want to go fetch Kaito for help- but he couldn’t.

Maki was leaning against the table, palms down as she watched the other seated students, everyone a few seats apart. Angie seemed singled out with Miu and Kokichi about as far away from her as possible, and Tsumugi looked closer to Shuichi than the artist. “If her idea of ‘unity’ is drugging us into obedience, she’s more dangerous than I am.”

“Wellllll Idono! Like I’d still be alive, right? You just kill people and we have nothing to stop you!” Kokichi seemed unable to sit in his chair like a normal person, instead standing on it and leaning the back of the chair dangerously far before returning his foot to the seat as the legs let out a loud clatter.

“Maki already proved she does not kill for no reason.” He felt the need to defend her, even if she didn’t appreciate it. Someone should stand up to Kokichi , even if no one did for him. “Besides, you were acting like Angie was terrible yesterday. You are being difficult for no reason.” He tried to ignore how they looked at him when he entered, like some sort of intruder.

“I don’t need your help.” Her tone was flat, eyes narrowed as if daring the robot to contradict her.

“I know. I just do not want Kokichi leading the discussion.”

“Oh? So you admit she was totally justified in trying to kill Himiko and you stopped her anyway? How mysterious!” The imp apparently took the attempt to move the conversation away from him as a challenge, pausing his rocking.

“Maki had a good reason, that does not mean it was safe at the time to actually do so. You are being intentionally dense.” He paused, wondering if there was a way to prove it. “You are only playing a fool.”

“Well, I was hoping Atua might reveal what I missed, but he must be tired. What is all this about Himiko? And where is Gonta?” Angie spoke up, not seeming to notice how everyone froze up as she spoke up.

“You know exactly what we’re talking about.”

“Mmh? Nope! Rantaro was the one here for the last little while, and he didn’t leave any notes for me. Did I miss many days?” She looked unbothered, even if she did appear a bit puzzled when looking at Maki.

Shuichi blinked, giving the artist his full attention in an instant. “Did he leave you notes before?”

“No. I left some for him so he wouldn’t feel left out, but I guess he didn’t see the wisdom in sharing with me.” Her smile remained, yet her posture was stiff. “Did I miss more than usual?”

She had, actually. Both the body discoveries and the trial had all been Rantaro, instead of the two awkwardly switching in a way that left both of them with giant holes of memory regarding each case. Though Angie had been in the driver’s seat for all of the peaceful time in exchange…

“Yeah, you totally missed how Himiko murdered Kaito!” The grin on the boy’s face managed to hold no kindness. “Which was actually your plan, but I guess she was just that incompetent.”

“But where is Gonta?” She ignored the jab, frowning at the remaining class.

Tsumugi sniffed a little at the mention. “The VR headset malfunctioned after Kaito died, it was just plain unfair. He didn’t deserve that…”

“You aren’t even going to explain yourself? For killing Kaito?” Maki looked liable to leap across the table at the smaller girl, arm trembling. “For tricking Himiko into it?”

“What is there to explain?” Angie tilted her head, still looking somewhat puzzled. “Everyone wouldn’t relax and try better to get along, so Atua showed me a way to safely lower everyone’s dangerous negative energy. It is not anyone’s fault that Kaito reacted poorly, if I had been around I would have helped him.”

“You POISONED everyone!”

“Yes, but not to harm. If only Atua had been here to guide you when Kaito’s health declined...Himiko only wanted us to get along.” She still looked unruffled by the accusations, even as she was glared at.

“Oh yeah? Then why the fuck did you have an extra dose ready to go?” Miu spat, pointing at Angie as if that would make her answer.

“Well if needed to keep the peace, I would act. I would never expect Himiko to be harmed for helping all of us live in harmony here.”

“So if you thought someone was going to ‘break the harmony’, you would have poisoned them.” Shuichi looked ill, edging back in his seat.

“It was only a precaution. Atua believes in all of you to do the right thing, but it sometimes pays to hedge your bets.”

The silence was fitting. Himiko and Kaito had died for nothing, yet the artist still seemed to think she was in the right. The fact she admitted she would kill, even for the so called good of everyone else made the robot shudder. How had he been so foolish? How did he fail to notice the measures she was planning to take were too much?

“Jealous you didn’t get to do it Killbot?” The taunt broke the tension, though the others still looked wary.

At least this was something easy to react to. “Do not call me that.”

“Hey if it shoots things, it’s a killbot. So that’s you!”

“I haven’t shot anything. You are being absurd.” He frowned, wondering if Shuichi was privately agreeing with the pest.

“Miu called it a weapon. Can it shoot?” Maki looked over to the inventor, apparently not interested in what Keebo would say.

“Huh? Duh, of course. It’s like some low power shock shot. It was like the lamest thing in there.” The blonde didn’t have any problem just making him look bad, apparently. 

“I have no interest in hurting anyone, I only acted to keep more of us alive.” He crossed his arms, averting his eyes for the moment.

“Miu, is it possible for you to block off the robot lab?” The detective asked.

“The fuck would I do that for? I can’t play with the neat shit in there if I do that.”

“To keep your stupid fuckbot from murdering us all silly! Angie might ask him to go get a shotgun next time!”

“I would not install lethal weapons no matter who asked me to.” He kept glaring at Kokichi, but the implication he could not be trusted from Shuichi hurt far more. “But if you want to block off my lab I have no objections. I do not like it anyway.”

Miu got up. “Well I fuckkin do! You can’t go asking me to help Kaito then block off half the shit I could use Keebo.”

“Oh? Miu intends to invent something to speak to the afterlife?”

“He’s still here, shell tits! In the computer, not your fucking bullshit afterlife. Stupid braindead cult leader.”

“So you think you can get him out of the VR?” Maki’s tone softened slightly, but her distrust was still obvious.

“I can do anything! I’ll figure out that shit no problem, but I need parts!”

“Then I guess we shouldn’t block it off then, if Miu needs it.” Shuichi sighed, but still looked tense.

“It’s okay! We’re not going to have any more trouble, for Gonta’s sake.” Tsumugi tried to lighten the mood, but no one seemed moved by her attempt.

“Totally! Until Angie decides to try and ‘help’ again, or the robot goes looking for blood. That isn’t even going into the literal assassin!” Kokichi’s smug chirping made the dangers seem silly, but that didn’t stop the others from looking uneasy.

“You kids are boring! I was looking forward to an early morning lynching and all I got was teenage angst! Which is kinda close but not nearly bloody enough.” Monokuma appeared, chuckling a little as most of the students jerked back from how suddenly he arrived. “So how’s about I give you some new toys? Kids these days love puzzles!”

Shuichi frowned at the items thrust at him. A pair of keys that looked rather strange. It seemed simpler than the random objects the detective had to deal with before. Either they fit in locks, or they didn’t. Maybe the bear was bored of watching them discover things?

“Is there anything really left to find? We all have ultimate labs already, don’t we?” Angie questioned the bear, still unnervingly cheerful. “You’re not making poor Shuichi run around for nothing, are you?”

“He’ll find out when he gets there! Exercise is good for the brain, he’ll thank me!” Monokuma scoffed, hopping off the table. “Maybe you’ll get inspired if you look around, huh? I shouldn’t hafta do everything around here.”

“I guess I’ll look.” Shuichi seemed more hesitant than usual, staring at the keys glumly. “Not that I really want to find Kokichi’s lab.”

“Aww, how sweet! Shuichi wants to make sure my lab is only usable by me!” The so called leader snickered.

He might be laughing as usual, but the stiffness of his shoulders looked off. “Are you implying you have been able to get to yours before it was opened up?”

“Huh? How would I do that, killdozer? Our magician is dead, remember? Oh wait of course you do! Since you really wanted a show.” Bright eyes practically dared the robot to argue back. “Was it worth it? Do the bloodbaths make your emotions feel real for a millisecond?”

The impulse to ask someone to punch Kokichi was very strong, but he managed to wrestle it down. “I am not engaging with you. That is what you want with your ridiculous assumptions.”

“He has a point, what do you mean by that Kokichi?” The detective didn’t care to defend him, but at least pounced on the strange remark.

“Oh come onnnn detective! Surely you can tell when I’m just rattling bolt-brain’s cage. He’s the overly literal one!” The boy tisked as if Shuichi had failed some sort of test. “You really don’t need to play stupid to pretend Kaito’s around you know.”

Shuichi’s glare hardened as he tucked the keys away and got to his feet. “I’ll say what I found tomorrow.” He didn’t wait for any objections, or calls that they would help look, not even glancing back once as he left.

Maki followed him, but lingered at the door for a moment to glare at her remaining classmates. She didn’t need to speak, it was clear that she wouldn’t be pleased if any of them tried to come ‘help’.

“It really is a shame Kaito was the one who perished instead of you Kokichi.” Angie let out a sigh, pushing away from her seat. “There is nothing waiting out there, we should be working together.”

“Well considering your idea of working together is getting your little disciples killed, the less unity the better I say!” He seemed more amused than anything, getting back to rocking his chair.

“Shuichi hasn’t gotten anyone killed, but you antagonize him too. I do not even need Atua to tell me that your motivations are not in everyone's best interest.” She met his gaze. “I would not be surprised if you had something to do with Gonta’s death either.”

Kokichi almost fell after that, laughing so hard that he couldn’t keep standing. Too hard, almost. The sound reminded him of the centipedes that had managed to squirm under his shoulder plate, a too long and shuddering discomfort he could not scratch at.

“Tsumugi, it would be best if we could get back on Shuichi and Maki’s good side. He is the main reason Maki remains peaceful, after all.” Angie ignored Kokichi, but Tsumugi still looked disquieted.

“Well, it’s plain to see they might trust me again Angie, but I don’t think they’ll forgive you…Kaito means a lot to them.”

“Then you stupid bitches should do what I say so they can have their rocket dick back and stop being so fuckkin pissy!” Miu speaking up surprised all of them, the silence afterwards just making her look more irritated. “What? Do you know how fuckin hard this shit might be? I need gophers!”

“But why have cult gophers? Like I get they’re stupid but you gotta have some standards girl.” He paused, staring at Keebo. “They don’t even hit your mech fetish.”

“That is not why Miu and I are friends!” He flushed, wishing such an easy insult didn’t bother him so much.

“Uh huh. You keep telling yourself that, robot.”

The inventor rolled her eyes, pushing away. “Urgh, you’re all fucking useless. Comeon Keebs, these guys are more of a waste of time than sleeping.”

He followed, of course, not really wanting to stay in a room with only Angie, Tsumugi and Kokichi in it. Unfortunately the tell tale footfalls signaled they had a tag-a-long anyway.

“Awww, but I wanna see if you manage to make an even stupider robot!” 

“Kaito is not stupid, he is simply more emotionally driven.”

“Which is robot talk for stupid.”

“No, it is not. Having a differing thinking style does not mean they are less intelligent. I am fairly certain Kaito knows more languages than you ever will.”

“Oh, is that how robots measure intelligence now? Cus you can cheat and just have that put in your brain?”

Miu had been stomping rather pointedly on the way up the stairs, but apparently felt the need to shout as the two kept squabbling. “Okay you obnoxious little shit sack, I don’t care! Fucking save your comedy routine for your clown car!”

“But Keebo is my clown car!”

“I am not! I do not even resemble a vehicle!”

“But mine’s an electric model and you said you don’t use gas!”

Miu turned and leered at them from the stairs “I’m gonna throw you down these stairs.”

“Oooh. Kinky. Careful though, bet Keeboy would like that.”

“What are you even saying? You are completely incomprehensible!”

“See? He’s all ‘ooh step on me Miu’-urk” he was unable to finish his sentence as Miu decided kicking Kokichi in the gut was close enough to throwing him down the stairs. The fact he tumbled down a flight of them certainly made it similar.

“Miu! You might have seriously hurt him!” He objected, even though it felt mostly like an impulse. Watching him fall had been nice, honestly. It had shut him up for a few seconds, and really he deserved it...but it was still wrong to do.

“Hey I warned the little turd! Besides he’ll be fine.” She grumbled, continuing on their way. “There’s no way we’d be lucky enough for that to actually break something.”

The robot hesitated, looking back. The boy was moving, and didn’t seem hurt enough to complain all that much either. “You are okay, right? Do you need help?”

“Not more help than you’ll need when Miu decides to use you in an invention!”

That wasn’t an answer, but the snide tone told him enough. Fine. He could get back up himself and not have anyone assist if he wanted to act like a cretin. 

It was getting a little easier to ignore how creepy the floor holding the room they needed was, but the robot still preferred moving quickly instead of lingering in the dingy hall. He’d simply have to tolerate the computer lab for now, even though the now missing bodies and the too-clean room felt even more uncomfortable. Kaito was in that oversized hunk of computing power, somehow.

“So you think Maki will get that stick out of her ass if the idiot can see out or somethin?” Miu hunched over the computer, apparently having some ideas already.

“Well, it would make it easier to communicate if we didn’t need to use the VR helmets all the time? And he might like to see the real world.” He considered it with a frown, remembering how defensive Kaito had gotten. “I’m not sure Kaito will take it well if he’s still confined to that world though. The obvious difference might upset him.”

“Good thing I don’t care if his feefees are a bit hurt because he likes to pretend he’s still alive!” The inventor laughed, before focusing more on the screen. “I can probably set up some camera and a mic and give him a little TV or some shit to see us with.”

“I suppose that is a start. Do you want me to do anything?” He wasn’t actually sure why Miu wanted help exactly, if she was just focused on coding for the moment.

“Make sure he’s still like, functional? So I don’t waste my time if he’s fried himself. You can go get stuff later.” She waved him off towards the headsets, a few notably missing. Apparently Monokuma didn’t want them to have spares to take apart.

“Do you really think that’s possible?” Surely this computer if it was so ‘advanced’ could handle a single human’s thought processes? Even if he personally didn’t think much of the machine, he wouldn’t want Kaito to suffer because of it.

“Dunno. Might be. Isn’t like shit that can handle AI’s on your level is a common ask. I’m a genius not psychic!”

“Okay, if anything isn’t working properly for him I can try and explain it.” He took a seat before messing with the helmet, triple checking it was set up correctly before turning it on. Just in case.


End file.
